Scavenger Hunt
by Unfulfilled-dreams
Summary: When both Kyo and Yuki fall ill, they send Tohru off to school without them. But what happens when she never comes home? Kidnapping future yukiXtohru, kyoXuo rated T for language. If you want a story about Kyo Yuki illness, read Virus by my counterpart
1. Chapter 1

I re-did this Chapter cause….it kinda sucked, it's still not all that great, but it's better at least, and I THINK I took care of almost all of the grammatical errors.

Enjoy

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

With a yawn Tohru sat up, stretching her arms above her head. Groaning, she flopped out of bed, and headed for the bathroom. She noted with some sleep-dulled surprise that Kyo wasn't about yet, but pushed the thought from her mind as she focused on the task at hand; getting ready for school.

A few minutes later she emerged from the bathroom, feeling awake and fresh, and headed downstairs to make breakfast.

She was wandering cheerfully around the kitchen, preparing food for everyone, when it finally clicked in her mind that no one seemed to be up and moving. This was usual for Yuki, he practically had to be drug from his bed, and Shigure almost always slept in, but Kyo was usually wandering angrily (or recently, not so angrily) around the house. Tohru put down the knife she was holding, and headed up towards Kyo's room.

Once there, she stopped, unsure of weather or not she should continue forward, but as she heard a moan from the other side of the door, she stifled a surprised gasp and knocked on the door.

" Kyo-kun?? Is everything O.K?" she slowly pushed open the door. As she poked her head around the door she saw Kyo sitting hunched over on the floor.

"Kyo-kun!" she emmited a squeal of fright and rushed to his side.

"What is it? What hurts? I'll go get help! Ill call someone!" Tohru began spazzing around the room, trying to figure out what to do.

"Yo…" she stopped immediately and turned to where Kyo was picking himself up off of the ground.

"I'm fine. I just have a stomach ache."

"Oh….but Kyo-kun! You were on the floor…"

"…I tripped"

"…Oh…" Tohru took a step forward, grabbing Kyo by the arm and leading him to his bed.

"Still…. You shouldn't go to school today, you don't want this to develop into something serious!" She sat him down on his bed, peering nervously into his face.

"O.K fine I wont go to school, now will you stop freaking out?" Kyo leaned back against his pillows.

"O.K, as long as you promise to take it easy today." Tohru smiled at her friend and began to retreat through the doorway.

"Oh….and Tohru?" She popped her head back through the door as she heard his voice. She could hear the embarrasement in his voice.

"Um… could you tell Uo… that I'm not gonna show?" Tohru smiled at the blush creeping over his face.

"Of course" she said with a smile, carefully shutting his door.

She began humming to herself as she wandered down the hall, a slight skip to her step. As she passed Yuki's door she was contemplating going in and checking on him when she heard a rough cough come from the other side. Immediately concerned she burst through the door, this time forgetting to knock.

"Yuki-kun, are you alright?" She quickly made her way over to his bed where he was laying, cocooned in a pile of blankets.

"You're not sick too, are you?" She gazed down anxiously at him.

"I'm O.K Honda-san , it's just a little cough. But I think I may skip school today, just incase." He smiled weakly at her.

"Oh no!" Tohru immediately began fluffing his pillows and making sure he was comfortable.

"Not you too! Kyo-kun is sick as well! What if something's going around?" She began running around the room flapping her arms animatedly as she babbled.

"Honda-san…..HONDA-SAN…… TOHRU!"

Tohru stopped at the sound of her name.

"Um…..yes?" she said, turning to face a smiling Yuki.

"We will both be fine, stop worrying! We can take care of ourselves….or at least, I can. Who knows about that loser." Tohro chose to ignore the snide comment that always accompanied a mention of the Red-head.

"However," the silver haired man continued.

"You are going to be late if you don't head off to school!" Tohru reeled around, and looked at the clock hung above the door.

"Oh no!" She began to flee from the room but stopped, looking back.

"Are you sure you'll be O.K?" she inquired fretfully, taking in how pale he seemed to be…(yes, paler than usual)

"Fine! Now go before you're late" Yuki's voice was firm, but he smiled warmly after her as she retreated from his bedroom.

As soon as she was out of his room Tohru broke into a run, grabbing her things off of the kitchen floor, and making sure everything in the kitchen was taken care of. She then ran through the door, hoping desperately that she hadn't forgotten anything.

This was going to be an interesting day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yay Chapter 1 hope everyone liked! Please R&R! I'll give you…a cookie or something.


	2. Bathroom Breaks

_Hallo shildren,_

_It is I, Tony, ze self titled maztermind who brought you shapters… Well ze latest vons… (IM REHEALLLY bored…) I vill be redouing zez ferst shapters… yuz, enjshoy. (Tony has been speaking in the 3__rd__ person and in random accents all day, this is what happens when he gets bored, and this is his attempt at writing a Russian/French/Transylvanian accent)_

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tohru burst through the door of her class room just as the bell rang. Her chest was heaving, lungs begging for a better supply of air; she had certainly cut it close today. With a heavy sigh she crossed the room and threw her self haphazardly into a desk between Hanajima and Uo. Tohru's rump had barley made contact with her seat before her two friends leaned over, looks of concern and agitation masking their faces; Uo's at least, to the untrained eye it looked as if Hanajima hadn't even noticed that Tohru had sat beside her.

"Tohru," Uo queried, blatantly ignoring the teachers command for her to be quiet, "What happened? Why are you out of breath and where are anger management-boy and the "Prince"?" Hanajima moved in on the left side and brought one perfectly manicured hand up to wipe away a stray strand of Tohru's hair, "Yes, what is wrong?"

Tohru smiled reassuringly at her friends, and lightly put a hand over each of their mouths. "I-I'll tell you later, lets be quiet and her what the Teacher's morning announcement is." With small nods they signaled their compliance with Tohru's request, and she removed her hands. Tohru linked her fingers together under the table, a small reassurance for herself. She couldn't bring herself to stop thinking about Yuki and Kyo, it just worried her so much when they got sick. Especially Yuki.

Tohru felt herself blanch, what if it was Yuki's bronchial tubes? What if no one heard him have an attack and when she got there-

-Snap

The loud crack of wood on wood brought Tohru reeling back to the class room and out of her "What-If" imagination romp.

"- and if Miss Honda would be so kind as to rejoin us, I'm sure she could tell us the precise location of Volgograd."

Tohru looked away, count on her teacher to snap her out of her home worries and back into the worries of passing World Geography.

"I believe it is in..Um…T-Tajikistan."

Tohru shrank down in her seat, something in the pit of her stomach told her she was wrong; The smirk that appeared on the teachers face confirmed it.

"No Miss. Honda, not unless Tajikistan move a few thousand miles North, and renamed itself Russia."

The teacher wheeled, shoes making a loud and menacing clicking noise as she did. "All right anyone know where-"

What ever question she was going to ask was drowned out by Uo's whisper of "God she is a bitch" in Tohru's right ear.

"Uo! We have to pay attention!" And with that Tohru straightened up, put on her best listening face and didn't move for the rest of the class.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When the bell rang signaling the end of first period, and the first period teacher left, Hanajima and Uo began their tirade of questions once again. It didn't last long, as soon as Tohru opened her mouth to speak the other girls immediately quieted and wait to hear her tale.

"I just left the house late this morning. Both Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun are ill! I'm worried about them!"

At the mention of Kyo, Uo got even more concerned. "Carrot top's sick? Maybe we should…..uh…..I mean…." She trailed off as she noticed Hana and Tohru's knowing smiles. "What? I just don't want him to hurt himself...he's too fun to pick on" she finished lamely, a deep blush covering her face.

"oh, what lovely waves you were just emitting, almost as if I am drowning in your lo-"

"Shush Hanajima, we mustn't ruin her cover up!" Tohru giggled, amazed at her own sudden wit. To deepen her amazement both Uo and Hana seemed to find the use of Uo's own mockery against her just as funny.

As the laughter began to die Uo interjected, trying to sound offended, "If you two are done laughing at my expense, I would like to point out that Mr. Nagi has just walked in and it looks as though we are going to have a very eventful History period."

Indeed that was how it appeared, when the girls looked up Mr. Nagi was dressed entirely like a Samurai.

Uo snickered, "wow, what a day for orangey to miss!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful, apart from an encounter with Yuki's fan club as the trio was heading towards the bathroom. It showdown didn't last long; Uo ended it when she shoved one member into a locker, and Hanajima contributed by "zapping" another with her electro-waves. The others obsessive stalkers scattered after that.

With all of the commotion that had caused Tohru had neglected to use the facilities as she had planned, forcing her to try and hold it in. Unfortunately, she couldn't manage it.

"Tohru, just ask her. She won't bite you." Uo said, noticing the way Tohru was squirming.

"But she is in the middle of a lecture and-"

"-and_ your_ doing to potty dance, if you don't do it then I will ask her for you. She won't say no to me!"

After a moment of arguing Tohru raised her hand, and voiced her needs. With a disgruntled look the teacher nodded towards the door with her head, signaling Tohru's freedom to go. Tohru scrambled out of her seat, almost forgetting the "thank you" and the bow as she left.

The halls were quiet, no other students were wandering around. It was odd, most of the delinquent children found some excuse to disappear from the classrooms and make a break for the schoolyard a few minutes early. It was almost as if the school were dead. She made her way swiftly through the halls, the stillness disturbed her; when she reached the bathroom she almost sighed with relief, and at least here she could have the drip of the sinks to break the quiet!

Tohru didn't rush herself in the bathroom. As the water ran over her hands and the soap bubbles dropped to the bottom of the white sink Tohru felt her mind wander to Kyo and Yuki's conditions.

_Lets see, Yuki had a fever and Kyo was sneezing… and he couldn't stand…What if they have Ebola!? I hear it started with just a fever… and Malaria! There are mosquitoes out this time of year! Don't worry, nothing like that is going to happen. Neither one has been to Africa in a while…. In fact I don't think that they have ever been to Africa. I wonder what Africa is like. We should go there someday._

Tohru shook her head, she was being silly. With a sigh she hoisted herself onto the sink edge and stared at the flickering florescent light on the ceiling above the door.

_Someone should change that, its going to break soon… I wonder if any of the light bulbs at home are going to break… I hope they don't break on anyone's head… that would hurt._

With a small harrumphing noise Tohru shook herself out of her daze. If she was going to help Kyo and Yuki, she had to get home on time. Skipping class was not going to get her home on time! With that thought implanted in her head Tohru jumped off of the porcelain rim of the sink, landing with a small thud on the cold tile floor. With small hum and walked to the door, determined to hum a merry tune and go back to class. Worrying about Kyo and Yuki wasn't going to help them get better, so she might as well stop it.

As her hand touched the knob of the door a small pop made her turn around. As soon as she did the light flickered more vehemently and with a violent cracking noise shattered. Tohru yelped and dashed for the other side of the door and the glass fell around her, falling in a sort of chaotic rain.

Tohru pressed herself against the wall in fright her chest heaving as if she had just run a mile.

"Wha…the light……..the light bulb just exploded!" she gasped. After a moment she began to inch towards the door, careful not to lift her feet for fear of the glass. Her hands slid along the wall, fingers groping and running over the plain stucco walls, and finally coming into contact with the useless light switch. Just as her fingers hit the lame switch, the small crunch of glass averted her attention to the stalls of the bathroom.

"Who….who's there" she squealed, whipping around. The bathroom was nearly pitch black; the only light was the small beam shining from the other side of the door. Even that was only enough to allow the dim outline of the stalls to be seen. As she stared in the direction that the noise had come she heard a faint cracking noise coming from an area off to her left. With a terrified yelp, she wheeled around, throwing her arm out to ward off what ever was there.

"My my my….you are a lovely one, aren't you?" the voice was raspy, and struck her to the very core. Its tone was menacingly sweet. It made Tohru's skin crawl.

"S-show yourself!" Tohru spun desperately trying to locate where the voice was coming from, the task made almost impossible as an unnatural echo bounced off every wall.

"Looking for me?"

She whipped around to see a figure, almost invisible in the dark of the restroom. Light glinted off the area where its eyes should have been, the glint came only as a strange beam of light running diagonally across the vast black, and empty cavities. With a small gasp Tohru stepped back and brought her hand to her lips. With a small whimper of terror Tohru realized just as her heel connected with the wall, that she had cornered herself. She was trapped.

"Don't go so soon, gorgeous"

The creature continued towards her feet clacking loudly with every inching step.

"The party's only just begun" In a flash, it was right in front of her, its finger's running down her cheeks, seeming to sap the strength from her very bones.

"N….n….no", was all that managed to pass through Tohru's trembling lips before darkness overwhelmed her, and she succumbed to the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo

_Ahhhh….the plot! She thickens! I hope everyone liked chapter two! Please please please R&R!! You guys are my inspiration! Oh and… sorry bout the cliffy, I just wanna leave you thirsting for more!_

_ Same from Tony y'all!_

_Tell me if there is anything wrong and I'll get it done._


	3. i feel like i should name these chapters

_AUGH! I'm soooo sorry! I haven't updated in ever! I've been….busy…well…that's kind of a lie. I've been…slacking. And working on another story. Not Only that but I've had terrible writers block! Its only really thank to mah best friend that I got this done at all!:Pyou should check out our story, which….hasn't yet been posted…but keep your eyes out for it!, aaaaaand here is the update!:) _

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Yuki woke abruptly, rocketing out of dream that, as he tried to remember it, faded away. He sat in bed, waiting for the strong feeling disorientation to leave. After the whirling in his brain ceased he began speculating on why he was in bed so late in the day, before he recalled how the morning had gone.

With a sigh he halled himself out of bed, and noted with surprise that he felt great! _I guess all I really needed was a little extra rest…_ his train of thought was interrupted as he heard a shout form out in the hall folowed by several resounding thuds. Groaning he remembered what Tohru had said earlier that morning, Kyo was sick as well. He contemplated ignoring the ruckus for a moment, but his curiosity **soon **overcame his distain for KyoYuki exited his room, taking a quick glance at the clock above his door as he did so. _2:20 already? I slept for a while…_He took a quick glance around, and spotted Kyo, lying at the bottom of the stairs, unmoving.

Yuki scoffed at Kyo's clumsiness, and walked down the stairs, stepping over Kyo's immobile form as he reached the bottom. Leaning down he peered into Kyo's blank face, noting the bruise slowly spreading from his left temple.

"Hey…dumbass….wake up" Yuki slapped Kyo, a little harder than necessary, a couple of times until he was rewarded with a groan of pain. Sighing, he stood up and walked to the kitchen, leaving Kyo laying flaccidly on the ground. As he entered the kitchen he noted with surprise that there was food laying on the counter along with several kitchen implements. Tohru had never finished breakfast, she must have been in a hurry to leave. He turned as he heard a noise coming from the doorway **of** the kitchen Yuki raised his eyebrows at Kyo, who was leaning on the doorframe for support.

"yo...fuck-face, what the hell is your problem?!" Kyo snaped, the bruise an angry red. He sauntered over to the mess on the counter, pushed it out of the way and hoisted himself onto it. Yuki glowered at Kyo and found himself stiffling a laugh. The bruise on Kyo's face looked like Gir from Invader Zim...eating a banana.

"What are you smiling about?" Kyo raised his hand to his temple and rubbed at the bruise, flinching as he put pressure on it. Yuki's smile immediatly vanished and he whirled around, snapping a quick "nothing" before he left the room.

With a sigh Kyo jumped nibely from the counter. He was starving, sleeping for almost 17 hours straight and not eating before hand, really made ones stomach growl. Kyo sauntered over to the fridge, noting how loudly his stomach was growling. He statched the handel and ripped the door open.Sorting through the contense of the fridge he finnaly located what he was looking for, ****With a contented sigh he moved to the table and settled down, focusing all of his attention on his meal.

As he munched happily, he began to contemplate what it was that had made him feel so crappy earlier, but after several minutes he got bored with that particular train of thought and let his mind wander. Almost immediatly it focued on Uo.

His mind roved over her. From her long, lusterous blonde hair to her… rough manner, but mainly to the real beauty hidden beneath all of that. He hadn't truly seen it till a few nights ago, when she'd let her guard down. The five of them, Yuki, Tohru, Kyo, Uo, and Hana, had been sitting out in the park, just looking at the stars. Yuki and Tohru had been closer to them, but they had fallen into a contented sleep, Tohru's head resting on Yuki's chest. Just to their left Hana was sitting, admiring one of the young men that had come wandering into the park. He had just been sitting there, not really focusing on anything, and as he looked over at Uo, he had seen this uncharacteristic look of wonder and peace plastered on her face. It had changed her so much. She no longer looked like the tough ruffian that everyone believed her to be, she was just a girl, plain and simple. He had been so awestruck by the new Uo that he was seeing that he stared openly, not trying to hide his shocked gaze. She took a while to notice his stare, and when she did, she didn't lash out, immediately putting back on her mask like he had expected her to, but she had leaned toward him, smiling slightly. "what are you staring at carrot top?" she had murmured quietly, trying not to wake Tohru and Yuki. He had simply blushed and lowered his gaze, trying to come up with a witty, uncaring reply, but as he'd looked up, he had found that he didn't really want one. So instead, he leaned forward, slowly, and…

Kyo's train of thought was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. Blinking, he sat up in his chair and fumbled for his phone. As he opened it to answer, he noticed Yuki standing in the doorway. Pushing the lingering images form his flashback to the back of his mind, he cleared his throat. "hello?" he stood up cracking his back. "Hey…um…Kyo?" Kyo's heart skipped a beat. "Uo?" he could hardly believe it. He hadn't really talked to her since that night in the park. " Um…ya…it me… I was just wondering…Did Tohru come home early from school?" As her words registered in his head, an alarm went off in the back of his brain. " No, why?" he said, pressing the phone firmly against his ear. " She didn't? you're sure?" Uo sounded slightly distressed. " Yes I'm sure. Why? Isn't she at school with you and physic chick?" Uo sighed, her voice cracking as she said " No, she left around halfway through last hour, and no one has seen her since, I know it hasn't been that long but, Tohru isn't the type to just leave without saying anything…and even Hana-chan has a bad feeling about this…..i'm worried."

Yuki stood in the doorway, watching as Kyo answered his cell and had a short conversating with the person on the other end. Near the end of the conversation he seemed to became uneasy, and as he hung up the phone he flopped down into the chair, looking worried. Yuki took a step forward. Kyo may have been a fool, but he didn't worry easily. "what's up" he said, trying to sound as disinterested as possible. Kyo looked up, worry written all over his face. _I have a bad feeling about this_ Yuki thought, just as Kyo said it….

" It's Tohru….she's missing."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_So…what do you think? Good?:) hope so… soo sorry it took me so long again…..butttt……ya….hope it's a good one! _


	4. Abandon hope

_Hey everyone. Ok, so the polls showed a severe….discrepancy with the DMC crossover, so here is a pure Fruba chapter! It's short, I know, buuut the ending was good…does that make any sense? NOW ONTO MagicalrainbowofDOOM's comments….(my best friend that I have often mentioned…)aand she has nothing to say….so enjoy the chapter all!_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Tohru awoke to the sound of her heart pumping wildly, beating in time to the pounding in her head. Trying to dredge up the memories of what happened through the thick haze of her mind, she slowly cracked open her eyes, expecting blaring sunlight. She was instead greeted my darkness.

Tohru let her eyes roam, they flicked wearily from Side to side. As her eyes adjusted she took in her Surroundings. Dark leather seats set below tinted windows; she was in the back of a car. As she turned her stiff neck slightly to the left, she noticed a shape moving in the front passenger's seat. As what she soon realized was an arm moved, and she saw a gun grasped firmly in the hand.

"Good morning Ms. Honda" The man peered at her, dark glasses hiding his eyes. He was broad shouldered, and from what she could tell very handsome. His head was shaved, his chin covered by a light brown beard, well shaven and neat. He was wearing a black suit, pressed and ironed. All in all he was very daunting. "yeah, and how yah doin' hunny?" his partner chimed in, and peered at her from the drivers seat, before Snapping his attention back to the road. He was much younger and less intimidating. With short, shaggy Brown hair that feel in gorgeous blue eyes. His suit was a little crumpled in some places as well. He Smiled, a cute, but menacing grin.

Tohru tried not to show her fear, which had finally over taken the shock that had beset her when the men had appeared. "w-where am I" she said, mentally cursing herself for stuttering. The driver laughed " well hunny, your in ona' those new fangled car things!" he laughed at his joke. His partner shook his head. "You are going to be held for a while Ms Honda. Until our employer decides what to do with you."

Tohru watched the for a minute, then found her voice. "Your employer? What does he want with me?" the driver laughed cruelly "well sweet cheeks, he turned to look at her, he wants you... disposed of"

Tohru felt her heart stop.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoO

_Hope you all liked it! Please R&R and let us know how it is!!_

_YAY_


	5. The Rescue Squad

_Bonjour everyone! Hope you like chapter 6!! It's another short one, but it was a quick update so no complaining. MROD?!?(MagicalrainbowofDOOM)I totally wrote this one… and I hate it! Woot way to go me! Anyways for those of you who were all like "oh, goodness bad guys! Who are they!?' THEY ARE NO ONE! We had to make them up because you all had a fit about a cross over! Pleeeebh! You should just be happy we write for your amusement! You people make me sick! GAH! Huff… gah every day man the teacher is like "Hey Joè you've got like… a D! Why do you do that!?" IT'S FOR YOU! GHA! Yeah... revere me… ahahahahahaha!!! runs away waving a report card with straight D's (It's Nataiea again) and that is why we don't let Joèsevea talk as a general rule! Enjoy the story everyone! And you all bring on disgust or sickness in no way….at all…. You are all awesome!he just reaaaally wanted Dante in the story…really….alot….but honestly we Love you! Enjoy the story everyone! runs after Joè_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yuki felt his heart stop, "Tohru missing!? How, When, why!?" Kyo's voice drifted through the fog of his thoughts, snapping him out of his hysterical mind set. "Yuki, Come on! Staying there isn't going to help Tohru." Kyo's amber eyes pierced through Yuki's confusion spurring him the think of a plan, of anything to help Tohru. After a moments pause he looked a Kyo "Shigure-"

"- has already been notified"

Yuki jumped at the sound of his cousin's voice. Shigure's hand landed gently on his shoulder, trying to convey some sort of comfort. "I have already alerted Aya and the others, the school called me an hour ago, when she first turned up missing.

Kyo snarled "you knew, and you didn't tell us!?"

"I knew that you would do something rash if you found out our resident flower had gone missing"\

"OUR RESIDENT FLOWER!? TOHRU IS MISSING!"

"I rest my case"

Shigure smiled coolly "I have also contacted the police and they have already begun their investigation" For a moment the Sohma's stood in the kitchen, an uneasy silence surrounding them. "Who do you think wanted her gone?" As soon as he said it Yuki knew.

Kyo snorted angrily, then let out another snarl "Why the HELL would Akito have done this!?" Shigure glared at his outburst "Akito did nothing, how dare you blame the leader of the house, when Akito was the one who gave her the okay to stay in the first place!" With a humph Kyo turned away, his cheeks tinged with an angry red. "It's just… who else would want to hurt her?" Shigure sighed, and turned away "I don't know, but just stay here, its bad enough that one of our loved ones is in peril" with that he left the teens alone.

Kyo stared after his retreating figure momentary hatred burned onto his features. "Damn him..." Blood dripped from his hand to the ground, his knuckles white from the strain of digging his nails into his palm. The blood made a "plopping" noise as it hit, staining the floor Tohru tried so hard to maintain. "We aren't staying" Kyo jumped at the sound of Yuki's voice. "Then what do you want to do?" he turned to look at the other Sohma. "Call Uo and Hanajima… we are going to find Tohru... Tell them we leave tonight at 9…. I will find her... if it kills me."

Kyo stared hard at the man he had spent his life hating, mystified at this new side of him. "Right" with a flick of his wrist he snapped his cell phone open and dialed Uo's number. "Uo, Its Kyo."

Yuki walked out of the kitchen ignoring Kyo's conversation, and went to his garden. With a quick swoop he snatched up something from the rows of vegetables and fruits. His heart ached as he saw what he had picked "strawberry… her favorite…" Yuki closed his eyes, allowing the sweet smells envelop him. The smell was maddening, with each breath her named roared in his ears, her face imprinted on his mind. He needed her; to live with out Tohru couldn't be considered living at all. With a roar he smashed the small fruit, its ruby juices trickling like blood to the ground. Yuki tossed his head back, and scream to no one, yet everyone "I'll find you Tohru! And when I do those bastards that took you will rue the day that they ever heard of you!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_More power to the cheese! R&R all!_


	6. The captors

_Hey everybody! How's it goin'? hope you all like chapter 7, and….if anyone knows who the_ _Fratellis are…you are cool…and Joè is having some issue's right now so those of you who actually read the authors note should just let him know that his existence is NOT meaningless….I think it will help a lot! OK hope everyone enjoys the new chapter ._

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The young man sneered at her, to Tohru it was the manifestation of evil. Every fiber of her screamed for her to run to cry, to fight, But all she could do was watch him. She turned her head, not wanting these hostile strangers to see her fear. She closed her

Eyes, shutting out the dark leather seats, and trying to understand. The humming of the motor was soothing, and helped her think clearly, but only if she shut out the thought that she was in the car with strangers. She focused her mind on the question of who would

Want her gone. She opened her eyes and looked out the window. Tohru couldn't tell where she was, but she knew they were still in the city, unless the dark shapes were giant trees... and they were in the Amazon. Her eyes snaped open._ What if they are taking me to the_

_Amazon!? What if they feed me to snakes?!! _

As she tried to picture a snake all she saw was Ayame, and inevitably her thoughts trialed to Yuki. Tohru closes her eyes picturing the delicate curves of the "princes" face, the smooth sound of his voice, his intoxicating smell. The fact that when he was around,

she couldn't function on a high level... how he probably thought she was an idiot, the fact that he could have any girl he wanted, and she thought that maybe he would want her. Tohru snaped herself out of the self-pitying thoughts. Thinking about Yuki was only making it worse. Only, what if he had gotten really sick! What if he needed help! What if he was in desperate need of chicken soup and some big Tohru hugs!?

Her head was spinning, she needed to stop thinking about home, and what ifs. She needed to focus on getting out of this. "All right" she said quietly, hoping thinking aloud would help her out. "Think Tohru, what do you know so far... how can that help you?" The more she thought the more desperate and afraid she became_. "Stop it!"_ she screamed in her head, hoping to stop the hysteria that she could feel creeping through her mind. Just calm down!!" she closed her eyes and let her head fall against the window. The Drivers voice drifted in and out of her half conscious state, he was talking about... her... what to do with her body, when she had been "disposed" of.

"Disposed of...why would someone want me disposed of?" Softly, she shook her head, not wanting to bring attention back to herself. With a light sigh she opened her eyes...and found herself staring right into the eyes of the driver. She hadn't even realized that the car had stopped. "heya hunny, were you fallin' asleep?" He grinned and reached his hand toward her.

Suddenly gripped again by terror, she lurched to the side, wildly trying to evade his groping hand. Eyes narrowing he leaned farther into the car, trying to get a hold on her. She lashed out and felt her foot make contact. Abruptly, she felt strong hands latch

around her waist, and she felt herself being lifted into the air. The well kept man held her slightly away from her body, as if she were going to soil his spotless jacket. " Alright, if yer gonna be that way" the driver came around the side of the car, rubbing a widening bruise on his chin "You'll travel in a liddle less comfort" he smiled dismally, and took her from his partner. Turning quickly to the side, he went to the back of the car, and popped open the trunk with his foot.

"Hope you're comfy in here liddle miss, cause we've got a long way to go." Roughly tossing her into the trunk her he grinned at his partner and then looked down at her, his blue eyes flashing maliciously, before he slammed the door shut.

As the darkness enveloped her Tohru felt her breathing quicken, her heart began to pump wildly, and the terror seized fully, wrapping around her like a cold blanket. "Help! No Don't Please!" She sobbed out, smashing her hands on the trunk lid. She heard the Young man laugh, " hey hunny, guess what! if you keep on carryin' on like that you'll run outa air long before we get there!" he smashed his hand on the trunk top, cackling as he heard her whimper. "yeah you like that don't cha!" with that he left, and she heard the

car start.

Tohru's eyes darted wildly around attempting to find some source of light. Nothing, all light was blocked out, all sound muffled. _Ok I can do this, I can_ _find away... Wait the tail light! break it out! Then_ _they can see your hand, and someone can get help!!_

she groped around, trying to feel anything that felt out of place. _there!_ she turned herself around, and smashed her foot through the tail light. Tohru muffled her scream as the shards sliced through her skin. she gritted her teeth against the pain and smashed out what little glass was left, then pulled her foot back in. "ok, Now tuurn..." she rotated again

and stuck her hand through waving wildly. "darnit!" she pulled her hand back in, and looked out. Houses whizzed by, but no cars followed them. She felt tears spring to her eyes _No Tohru, don't give up! you can_ _still do this! _she leaned back and ran her fingers

thorough her hair. _ yes! _ she pulled out the hair band that Yuki had given her when they went to the Hot springs.

She pulled a sharpie that Uo and stuck in her sock at lunch out, and scribbled Yuki's name and number. She felt the tears sliding down her cheeks. The car had stopped they would be out here soon, if they saw she would never get this out, and would be caught forever. "please... tell him...location...of ribbon... and Tohru... is...there...help" Tohru dropped it out the broken tail light, just as she heard the car doors slam. _Please...Please someone... find that..._ the trunk popped open, and the men stared in at her.

"Well sweet cheeks ready to come out!?" the young man laughed. Tohru stared defiantly at him, wishing that she had kept her tears under control. "Bite me" she snapped, chin trembling as more tears threatened to break free. The mans smile faded, then he laughed "in

The immortal words of the Fratellis," he leaned down "give us a kiss and maybe we can gooo out!" he grabbed her and roughly stole a kiss. "Sega, that is enough!" the other man grabbed his partner and ripped him off of her. "Let's go." Sega stepped back and allowed the larger man to scoop Tohru up. As they carried her inside she smiled. Something told her, her prince would find her, and when he did, he would sweep her off her feet, and everything would work out just fine.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Yay for the new characters, hope you all like them. Let us know how we're doin!_


	7. Moving out

**_M'kay….wow it took me like………..8 years to finally post this one! Wow……….. And I really have no excuse other than…..I was on spring break and I had to work…:):) anyway, hope you all like chapter 8! They are finally moving forward, woohoo._**

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

By 8:35 Yuki was ready to go, and pacing around the house impatiently, waiting for the others to get there. The lanky youth sighed, pushing his silvery hair out of his eyes. Kyo had left to get Uo and Hanajima 10 minutes ago, it was about a 5 minute walk to where he was going, then a 10 minute walk back (girls slow everything down). Yuki glanced at his watch, and, with a grunt of impatience, threw his head back.

_Where are they? they are taking to long...we have to go find Tohru... _Agitatedly, he threw himself into a chair, mentally going over his list of where Tohru could be_. But why? Why Tohru? What has she ever done to anyone? She is always polite, even when people don't deserve it...she's nice, sweet...she's perfect._ A small smile came to his face as he thought about her. From her long brown hair, her full lips, which he tried not to stare at every time she talked, to the look on her face that night in the park as the stars, shining bright in the sky, reflected in her beautiful eyes, making her seem to glow. That night, she had looked just like the angel he knew she was inside...And someone had taken her away! He swung his arm forward, his fist breaking a large hole in the wall.

Yuki leaned forward, placing his aching head against the walls cool surface, and closed his eyes. His felt his anger coursing through his, pounding through his brain, telling him to _do_ something. He knew that he had to ignore it, it would cause him to do something rash, but they had taken **_Tohru_**...He was going to find the people who had taken her, and when he did...

He started as the sound of the front door opening cut off his train of thought. The sound of Kyo's voice brought him back to the present, and he whirled around, running into the living room and glancing down at his watch. _8:56, good timing_. He rounded the corner and nearly smashed into Hanajima. "Hello Yuki" She was unusually brisk and business-like tonight...it kind of ruined her usual creepiness. She also had her flowing black locks tied up behind her head, and was wearing jeans and a T-shirt rather than her usual elegant clothes. "Are you ready?" he questioned, quickly recovering from his shock at the change in her appearance. "Yup." Yuki looked up, startled. He hadn't realized that Kyo and Uo were standing in the doorway.

"Let's go" said Kyo, his face grim. Uo smiled, and brushed some of his bright hair out of his face. He smiled and reached down, enveloping her hand in his. Yuki, noticing this, lowered his head, trying to hide his anguish as Tohru's smiling face surfaced in his mind. After standing like this for a moment, trying to push his anger to the back of his mind, he looked up, his eyes glinting. He pushed past Hana, Kyo and Uo and stepped out into the cool night air.

Looking up at the full moon, he allowed a grim smile to creep over his fair features. _Hold on Tohru, and don't worry...I'm on my way_.


	8. Haru's hunt

_Ok… it took me for BLOOODY ever… but some people wanted more length on the chapters… yes this chapter is relevant… It's just from other people's point of views… it all still revolves around the story…. And finding Tohru, but we kinda needed a new perspective…. Everything is going to go back to normen (normal) after this._

_ The Management, AKA Joé _

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Ariel smiled. So far her first trip to Japan was going swimmingly, and it had just gotten better due to the hottie that was leaning on his bike across the street. She let a small growl escape her lips as her eyes traveled up his legs. He was wearing tight black leather pants, stunning on his lithe frame, a tight white trench-coat hung loosely around effeminate shoulders, a small eagle pendant hung between his high collar bones. She felt her self sigh; he was gorgeous, dark and dreamy, but light and inviting at the same time.

She felt her heart stop he was looking at her, dear god the sex god was LOOKING at her. The white haired boy quickly crossed the street, bike in tow, eyes locked right onto her. "H-h-hi..." she squeaked as he came to a stop on his bike, and set the kick stand down.

"Excuse me" he said, and then abruptly smacked her off of the bus bench.

Ariel stared at him, never in her life had she been more upset. She had just been pushed off the bus bench by none other than the man she had been ogling. "What IS your-" She started to complain, but held her tongue when he gave her a deadly look. "Where." He said quietly. Ariel stared at him. "Where what?" she asked warily.

"Where did you get this?!" he snorted, anger lancing across his face.

He held small and ugly hair ribbon in his hand. Once it might have been beautiful but now dirt and oil that stained the tattered fabric.

"THAT," she stated, "Isn't mine."

The young man stared hard at the ribbon then let out a howl of rage

"How DARE she! Tohru I thought you were better than this! I can't believe you would just throw away a present that Yuki had given you!"

He whipped around, long white coat whipping in her face. Ariel stumbled backwards, suddenly wishing for the comfort that comes with ones home city. She gasped in terror and let loose a small scream as the man lifted his bike into the air, and hurled it into the fence behind her. Its small bell let out a wail of protest as the metal contraption smashed into the fence, snapping the pickets in two.

Ariel scrambled for cover, not wanting the locals to think she was the cause of this, and trying to hide her face from the cars that were stopping to watch the spectacle.

With another howl the young man reached again for his bike, but stopped when the ribbon fluttered to the ground, revealing the backside and some smeared writing that had been concealed.

He calmed and reached down, scooping the delicate lace into his hands. "Yuki, XXX-XXX-XXXX, please tell him location of ribbon. Tohru is there…. Help…" he read off, all anger diminishing.

He looked up at her, no emotion on his face. "I'm sorry… I have to go now." With a dramatic swoop, he whipped around and grabbed his bicycle in one quick movement. With a "ching" of the bell he rode off, peddling furiously.

Ariel stared after the young man, mind racing. That's it she thought I am never coming to Japan again. With that she got on the bus and rode to the nearest airport to catch the next flight back to Europe.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hatsuharu pushed himself harder. It was almost eleven, if he didn't get to Shigure-san's house in a few moments he wouldn't get to tell Yuki the message. After all Yuki had school in the morning. Haru stared into space _Wait _he thought_ if Tohru is missing... Why would he go to school? _

He shook his head, swerving and narrowly avoiding getting hit by the one car on the back roads. It honked angrily at him. With in irritated flick of his wrist Haru raised his middle finger and continued to muse, ignoring the screams of anger he got from the man in the car. "Who would want to take Tohru?" he said aloud, telling himself it was to the trees, and that he wasn't crazy.

_You? Not crazy!? Hah…_

Haru grimaced at the presence of his "black" self.

"No" he said "I'm not crazy…" he shook his head and turned off onto a dirt road leading to the sensei's house. His eyes strained, trying to take in what he was going towards, with out the street lamps it was virtually impossible to see where he was going. The trees on either side of him seemed to lean in, choking the life out of his lungs.

Not now, He gasped, trying to control the terror coursing through him. His eyes widened, he was almost there he could tell. He just couldn't see anything. The wind whipping past his ears whispered dark secrets of atrocious death in his ears. His breathing came in harshly, the raggedness of it playing tricks on his mind, making him believe there was someone there. Haru panted, a sobbing gasp exploding from his lips as he surged forward. He knew it the hands he could feel them, the creatures of the night wrapping themselves around him –

-and suddenly he was free, the beautiful light of Shiguri's house shining into his eyes, and breaking all illusions the dark had spun.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Shigure sat, eyes closed as Beethoven's "the Fifth" blared loudly in the house. The message machine beeped with the thirty or so messages his editor had left, pleading with him to PLEASE get the next chapter done, or she was going to kill herself. He smiled as the phone began to ring. _Ill let the machine get it... make her sweat…_ The answering machine picked up on the third ring and his hysterical editor's voice came blaring out of the small console.

"SENSEI, PLEASE PLEASE ANSWER! I KNOW YOUR HOME! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!? IF IM DEAD IN THE MORNING IT'S YOUR FAULT! YOU MADE ME DO IT! PLEEE-HEHEHE-HEEEAAAASEEE…."

It ended with a strangled sob, then a small thud as she dropped the phone. An evil grin came to Shigure's lips as he listened to her sob for the next minute before the machine hung up. "Oh you are evil… aren't you!" he chuckled to himself. If he knew her she was outside his door about to knock…. Or kill herself.

He sighed; if it were to be the later he hoped she would at least do it in some quick bloodless way. He really didn't want to clean up after her.

Shigure's morbid thoughts were broken by the front door sliding open with a loud "bang", then loud footsteps that began tearing through the house. _It's not my editor… she doesn't have the guts to do that… might be... nope... Yuki and Kyo left…mmmm… _Haru suddenly threw himself into the study, and to the ground, knocking books and papers everywhere in during his fall.

The white haired teen looked up eyes wide, looking about like a mad cow. _Mad cow...hehehehe Shigure_ giggled, and got an odd look from his guest. "I FOUND THIS!" Haru screamed and flung himself to his feet. He began to talk so fast Shigure could only make out small bits and pieces like "bike" and "trees" and "Spontaneous human combustion in the form of animals wangs."

Well he thought he heard the last one, but he wasn't sure if he had made it up. Scotch had that effect on him.

He shook his head and threw the strange thoughts away. "Hatsuharu what you need to slow down… you aren't making any sense…" Haru stopped, panting slightly. "Wait… Is Yuki even here?" he queried.

"No" Shigure replied, letting some of his contempt for Haru's unusual disrupting behavior seep into his words.

"Why am I talking to you then..." his words were back to their usual drawl, and the hysteria was gone.

The phone rang.

Ring

Ring

Ring

Click

"SHIGURE PICK UP YOUR PHONE!!!" his editor's voice screeched, causing the answering machine to whimper and scream under the strain of her voice.

"Well then... I should take that"

"Then do"

"Aren't you leaving?"

"No"

"Damn."

Haru huffed and Shigure answered the phone, Called out a salutation, and then held the apparatus a good foot away from his ear in order to save his hearing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Haru sat in the corner of Shigure's office, waiting for the other man to get off the phone. He let his eyes wander around the room, drinking in all of the book titles spread about. "Lord Fowl's bane" he read aloud. Good book, if he could remember. About a leper man... who raped people… Ok not so good. He moved away from that shelf and to another. Famous titles called out to him, from "Moby Dick" to "Frankenstein". He sighed, if he had more time, he would have stopped and read some of them.

Unfortunately, there was no way for him to focus on that right now. Tohru was missing, and Yuki was gone as well. _Where are you Yuki…? I might know where Tohru is… Damnit._ He sighed; Shiguri's annoying voice drifted through the air and struck his ears. He honestly couldn't stand the man when he was like this. Always thinking about himself. Tohru was in danger, and he was blowing Haru off to talk to his editor.

A small voice screeched from the phone, pleading Shigure to do something.

"Well" Shigure said into the line "I was planning on going on a trip later..."

"Mumble mumble!" said the phone.

"Yes… Wait you'll do what for me? Heh, well, maybe I could be persuaded to stay for a little while and work.

"Mumble mumble." The phone replied.

"Only if you close your mouth over it"

The phone didn't respond very quickly and when it did it was so quiet that Haru couldn't even hear the vague murmur of the voice from the other end.

"Well I suppose… but only if you take the cloth off it first, that way it will be easier to access."

Haru looked away, cheeks a flaming red. What the hell were they talking about!? His mind started to conjure images of what Shigure's author had promised him.

He was incredibly disturbed.

Haru grabbed the nearest book and started to read.

"**His tone of voice suggested that even nastier things had happened to the patrols, but Sabriel didn't question him**." He read on, absorbed by the book, until a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder, jerking him back into reality.

"So what did you want to tell Yuki, and who said you could read "Sabriel"? Haru closed the book and stood. "I came to give Yuki the message that Tohru left him as a clue to her where-abouts.

"You found a clue to where she might be?"

"Yes, the ribbon he gave her during the hot springs trip. Now where is he? I have to tell him right away."

Shigure looked away, an embarrassed look coming over his cheeks.

"They… Sort of ran off to find her already."

Haru stared at him, unable to comprehend what he had just said.

"You mean you lost Yuki and Kyo too?"

"In a way yes..."

"Did they take Uo and Hanajima too?'

"I'm… not sure…"

Haru screamed in frustration, causing Shigure to cover his ears in pain, and then ran out of the house to find his missing friends.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yuki looked at the ground. He didn't want to admit it, but their search seemed fruitless. As far as he could tell they had been searching for about four hours, and nothing had come up. He sighed, he could have used Shigure's ability to talk to dogs about now. At least then they might be able to sniff her out.

He looked at the other three searchers. Uo still had a determined look on her face, but exhaustion was beginning to replace her vigor with less rigorous searching.

Hanajima had been using her waves for the past while, but could find no trace of her dear friend.

Kyo looked nearly as tired as Yuki felt. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and sweat glinted on his skin. Yuki had noticed the steady stream of cats that come and gone from him, obviously helpers that the other teen and employed.

Even with all that help, nothing, not a trace of Tohru had appeared.

With another sigh Yuki walked over to the other teens, and called them over.

"This isn't working" he said lamely.

Uo looked at him, anger shooting through the Yankee's eyes

"So you think we should give up then?"

"No I ne-"

"No you didn't come directly out and say it, but YOU WANT TO GIVE UP ON TOHRU!" She was screaming now. Obviously upset by Yuki's words.

"No Uo, I really... I don't-"

She cut him off again, "JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T LOVE HER LIKE WE DO! DOESN'T ME-"

Yuki had had enough.

"LISTEN UO! YOU'RE RIGHT I DON'T LOVE HER LIKE YOU. I AM IN LOVE WITH HER. DON'T YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF NOT CARING FOR HER. I WOULD DIE BEFORE I Let…"

He couldn't finish. It was true. He would die before he let anything happen to her. But he really couldn't say that, something had already happened to her, and he had done nothing to stop it.

Uo stared at him, and Yuki realized the secret he had just let slip. It was true he and Tohru had a romance, but had been a secret. They had told no one.

With a snort of anger hiding his embarrassment he turned on his heel and began to search again. He could feel their eyes boring into his back but he didn't care. With what he had just said, pulling out to wait for the rise of the sun and more help made his words seem fake. He would prove that he loved Tohru if it took a full night of searching. Even if it meant he would never do anything again.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Hatsuharu got off oh his bike and leaned it against the wall. He was back where he had started. Back where he had first seen the ribbon. He couldn't help the yawn that escaped his lips, it was nearly four in the morning and he hadn't slept. His legs were like jello. After hours of looking and no sign Yuki; He had decided that if he was going to look for someone it should at least be Tohru. She had asked for help, meaning she obviously needed it. Yuki, as far as Haru knew, was perfectly fine and surrounded by friends.

With a small groan he stretched out his shaking limbs on the bus bench. He closed his eyes, the small alley across the way imprinted on his eye lids. If Tohru's ribbon had been here, it meant her holding place had to at least be close. The wind hadn't blown all day. In fact… he opened his eyes, suddenly knowing exactly where Tohru was.

Haru lunged to his feet and dragged his bike across the road. The alley way. It had to hold the secret as to where she was. It was the only place it could have originated. With a click of his ankle he snapped the kick-stand down, and carefully tied the ribbon onto the basket attacked to the front of his bike.

He turned around and slammed into something hard. It was a man's chest; he was clothed in a prim pressed smart black suit. "Hello" the man said, his voice thick with malice.

The teen stared up at him, a heavy feeling of dread filling the pit of his stomach. This did not bode well. Haru lunged away, but the effort he had put into cycling that day had taken all swiftness from him. He had barley gotten six steps before the man caught him.

A hard metal object slammed into the back of Haru's head spinning the teen into darkness. As he fell, Haru forced himself to look up, and as if from some dream, some Ironic twist of fate, there was Yuki standing across the street not more than 200 meters away. With a strangled moan Haru reached out, fingers clenching in an attempt to get the other teens attention.

It was as if he believed the small movements would make Yuki turn around and help lead him to being both Haru's and Tohru's savior.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

_WOO longest chapter to date and here is a special announcement to all… basically its to ToMeWithLove.. but you can all read it…. _

_Dear ToMeWithLove,_

_Nataiea and I would love to thank you for the Flame. Though it was quite irritating at first, it led to great amusement, all at your expense. Your "biting" words of, and I quote, "Okay… This fucking sucked…. Wow that's just shit." caused an immense amount of humor; because it, of course takes, someone of "Great Intelligence" to come up with an insult like that._

_I would also like to point out that you say that there are an infinite number of writers that don't deserve to write, but on your page it has an impressive 0 where your authored stories should be. We have speculated that this is because you lack the eloquence to write. On that note I , Joé, suggest you get some talent of your own before deciding what you think deserves a metaphorical "pat on the back"._

_ So take your pathetic forms away girlies, because the intellects are tired of you pretending to be one of us. One last thing, next time you say you hate a story, don't put it on your watch list. It lets us know you actually enjoyed it. _

_On that note, thanks for reading our story everyone! Your support gives us the strength we need to chew the asses of annoying children and continue this wonderful adventure in to the magical world of literature…. And now to Nataiea!_

_N "magical world of literature" nicely worded Joé! I AM NOT LAUGHING AT YOU!!! _

_J-And were out of time, put your authors notes on your chapters._


	9. Lost and Alone

_You will all know what I am talking about when you get done with the chapter…but I must question……..kittens really aren't scared of much. I should know…we have a bloody (inbred) kitten and cat farm at my house (15 cats) in my experiences I have found that kittens are tough little buggers. I had 3 kittens jump into the bathtub with me (it was adorable) and they aren't afraid of the vacuum, although my CAT is. They sleep with the dogs. (Big dogs, not little dudes, Great Dane mastiffs) and ya…so the term "trembled like a kitten" really doesn't work. And as I say this I should mention that I used this phrase in the story so I am a complete and total hypocrite…have a nice day!!_

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As Tohru slowly rose to awareness she moaned lightly. Tentatively reaching a hand up she placed it on her aching skull, and as she brought it away she felt a warm sticky substance cling to it. Slowly she opened her eyes and found herself once again greeted by darkness. _What is with there people and knocking me out?_ She thought _tiredly it's not like I could do anything to stop them, so what's the point?_ It was a self pitying thought, but as she pictured the big man and his partner she realized she really couldn't do much of anything against them. With a start, she remembered the ribbon. _O god…maybe that's why they knocked me out! They must have found it and now I'm stuck here and no one will ever find me and…OH NO!!! THAT NOTE SAID YUKI'S NAME ON IT!! WHAT IF IT LEADS THEM RIGHT TO HIM!! WHAT IF HE GETS IN TROUBLE BECAUSE OF ME?! THAT WOULD BE HORRIBLE-_

Her desperate thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal clashing on metal. Slowly, shifting her position so as to not give away the fact that she was awake, she turned. She saw...someone with their back to her...Building something? Once again the person raised their hammer and brought it crashing dawn on whatever they were...hammering? Tohru sank back into the shadows and scanned the room, trying to lodge every detail in her mind. _No windows, no doors...It's dark and very open; I could easily get shot if I tried to run. Plus there would be nowhere for me to go...except...THERE!! _She leaned forward slightly; trying to make out the shape in the distance...it looked like... ELAVATOR DOORS! She bit her tongue just in time to stop herself from squealing in joy. And then failed as she yelped, having bit her tongue too hard and drawn blood. Luckily the hammerer had just brought his hammer down on whatever he was hammering (ha-ha) and they did not appear to have heard her.

Sinking back in the shadows again, she assessed her situation. My _head is tender, but not too bad. As long as I'm careful it should be fine. No broken or even sore bones…... If I go up behind the hammerer and hit him over the head with..._ She looked around, trying to find an object that could be easily accessible and heavy enough to incapacitate him. _AHAH!_ She quietly sidled across the floor to firmly grab the long strip of PVC pipe in her trembling hands. Crawling slowly over to the man's worktable, she poked her head around the large metal desk, and bit her lip as she nearly hit her nose on his leg. She resisted the urge to either retreat back behind the desk and sit there trembling like a kitten, (see? Hypocrite.) Or stand up and start running around is circles, screaming hysterically, and looked up, hoping desperately that he wasn't standing there looking down at her and pondering why this little girl was being a dip-shit and sitting right next to his leg. He wasn't. At least, he wasn't looking at her.

She studied his face closely before realizing that it was the driver. His shaggy red hair hung down over his eyes, and with an irritated flip of his head, he flicked his hair out of the way, but in the process, swung too much and managed to hit himself in the groin with the hammer. She flinched, and laughed evilly(but quietly), as he hunched over, making a sound that was a cross between a moan, a rabid monkey on the war path, and a puking old lady. She raised herself slowly trying to keep him in sight as he slowly sunk to the floor, clutching at his crotch. As she did so, she hit her head sharply on the large piece of metal protruding from the corner of the desk. Rubbing her head, she began to stand; wanting to see what was on the desk, but just as she started to do so he rose to his feet and began pounding the hammer on the desk.

"Fuckin' hammer...hit me in the balls...HOW DARE YOU?!?!" he continued to pound the hammer against the desk. She quickly dropped back down to her knees, amazed that he hadn't seen her. Frowning, she glanced up, ignoring the loud screeching that was echoing through the room. The desk was plainly (and loudly) protesting its beating. She narrowed her eyes at the object that was leering down at her...what was it? She really wanted to know what he was working on, but in order to see, she would have had to stand up, politely tap him on the shoulder and ask him to please move, so she decided that she would have to just not know.

Sliding back behind the desk, she gripped the PVC pipe firmly in her hands, her mouth set in a grim line. _I'll have to do this fast_. She closed her eyes, and envisioned what she was going to do. _Hit him on the head, then break for the elevator and pray to god that it worked._ She lunged to her feet and twirled around, swinging the pipe as she did so. She flinched slightly as the sound of hard plastic hitting flesh and bone reached her. Not pausing to see if he was out, she swung around and dashed for the door. As she was nearly upon the doors, she couldn't risk a backwards glance, and as she turned slightly, she slammed into something softer (barely) than a wall. Losing her balance, she fell back, landing hard on her back with a WHUMP. Looking up dazedly (she had managed to hit her head..._again_) she saw the light glint off of the shining bald crown of the big man that was the driver's partner.

"Hey Sega...your charge got away" he stated calmly, hauling her to her feet by her arm. "Wow, you're a fiery little thing aren't you?" He turned her around so that she was facing him, and not flailing her legs wildly in the open air. "You may as well stop running...you aren't touching the ground" He said, starting to put her down, when she swung her leg up with all of the force she could muster, catching him in the nether regions. He didn't even flinch.

"LET.ME.GO!!" Tohru twisted wildly, trying to free herself from the large man's grasp.

"'I'm afraid I can't do that" His expression was impossible to read through thick sunglasses.

"Huh...why?" She abruptly stopped struggling, and he nearly dropped her in surprise.

"Well...because...I just can't"

Tohru decided to go for the scared, innocent little girl routine...maybe it would work with this guy, he didn't seem to happy about the whole arrangement.

"Please?" She let a small tremor creep into her voice. From what she could see of the big man's face he looked pained. His eyebrows raised and he pulled his lips back, showing his shining white teeth in a grimace that made it look as though he had just been struck. Dropping her to the ground he began herding her back to his partner, Sega, who was still lying unmoving on the ground.

As they approached his still form, Tohru grimaced. His deep red hair was matted in the back by the thick blood that was pumping sluggishly out of the wound in his head. Groaning slightly, he shifted, and then suddenly lurched unsteadily to his feet. As Sega turned, she saw that his nose was also bleeding; he must have hit it on the desk as he fell. Seeing her, his lovely face contorted, and he lunged toward her, ugly in his rage, only to be stopped by the large man who was currently pushing her behind him.

"Sega, stop." His voice was so forceful that it actually caused his partner to stop…for about 3 seconds. With a snarl, Sega ran forward and attempted to reach around his partner and grab Tohru. Seeing his arm snaking around the big man, Tohru caught it between her teeth and bit down…hard. Sega squealed and tried to pull his arm free, but Tohru held on with all her might. That is, until the big man hit her sharply atop the head, much like one would do to an unruly dog.

Startled, she let Sega's arm drop from her mouth, and looked up at the big man. "She BIT ME!" shouted Sega. "She BIT me, and all you do is hit her on her head? And she knocked me out! This little…" he looked sidelong at Tohru "CREATURE has been nothing but trouble for me. Common Shii….LEMME AT 'ER!" He lunged again, but was stopped by Shii's large hand on his chest.

"Sega." The man's deep voice reverberated throughout the large room, causing both Tohru and Sega to stop and turn. "WHAT?!" Shouted Sega, finally halting his attempts at getting to Tohru. "Stop" Shii's voice was calm, but Tohru could tell by his grip on her arm that he was unhappy with his partner. Sega obviously knew too, because he stepped back, lowering his gaze.

"Now….Miss. Honda" Shii placed her gently on the ground, giving her a look as he did so that clearly stated, 'Don't even try it missie'. "Kindly stop abusing Sega, and be good. I do not want to hurt you, but if it is necessary, I will not hesitate to do so". His voice was a deadly calm. Tohru stared up into the dark sunglasses for a moment, trying to see the eyes so efficiently concealed behind them, and then slowly lowered her gaze, staring down at the remnants of her left shoe. "Yessir" she murmured.

"Good" Shii was all business again. "Now Sega…" he trailed off as he caught sight of the metal desk that Sega had been working on. "Sega……what did you do to the desk?" He stared quizzically at his partner, who was currently drawing an intricate drawing (that looked slightly like a bunny) in the dirt…with his toe.

"I….uhhh...nothin'… " He gazed up at his partner sheepishly, raising an eyebrow in an attempt to look innocent. "I was mad. So I kinda…whaled on it with the hammer" He seemed to get smaller with every word he said, and by the end of the sentence he was cowering in front of the big form of Shii. Tohru smiled. It was nice to see this man, who obviously thought so much of himself, be humbled. "Sega…honestly….augh" Shii turned from the man's small figure, an apparent dismissal. Sega scampered away.

"Now…what to do with you…" Tohru wasn't sure weather he was talking to himself, or her. He gazed around the room, his intense stare missing nothing. "Ahh" he seemed to have found the answer to his dilemma. He turned back to her, a sad look flashing over his feature before the calm returned. "Come here" He grabbed her gently by the arm and led her over to the corner of the room, carefully strapping her leg to a cuff set into the wall. "Now please…be good" He gave her one last fleeting glance and then turned, walking purposefully away.

As soon as he was out of sight, Tohru began tugging desperately on her bond, trying to pry it loose from the wall. But it was to no avail. She was trapped, and she was alone.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_Woohoo! Yay chapter 10!!:):):) No happy notes at the end of this one, just…really nothing…..yup nothing at all! TA!_


	10. Rats

Well Happy three thousand hits sis. Hi I'm Tony, Nat's lil' bro and I'll be your storyteller for the day. Sorry if its long. But that's the way I roll… and if you don't like rats, don't read 'cause its centered on three. Nat and Joe are taken time off cause he has to leave in about 7 days. Wish him luck guys, and hope he comes home safe. Oh and it gets a little morbid towards the end… and this is kinda gory at the end, so if you don't like it… I don't know, but you have been warned.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Morning had begun her steady invasion of the world of the night. The dark asphalt of the streets was steadily beginning to lighten as the suns pale rays peeked over towering building tops. Cars meandered down the road, their occupants clutching coffee cups as if they were life vests, or their only anchor to the conscious state they were in. A young man slowly wandered the cracked sidewalks, a forlorn aura wrapped around his small frame. Pale grey eyes wearily scanned the ground, darting this way and that, a complete desperation seemed engraved into them.

He turned his tired body away from the cold, unyielding sidewalk. His eyes darted up to a lean figure approaching him. Their footsteps were soft, and their movement fluid. They had a strange feline grace about them. Their voice had a rough undertone, but sounded muffled by sheer fatigue.

"Yuki"

The Pale eyed youth, Yuki, seemed to brighten a little at his callers voice. Though any happiness he had gained was quickly replaced by morose at his comrade's appearance. His shoulders sagged with exhaustion, and his hair had an oily sheen only brought on by weariness. Dark circles underlined delicately curved orange eyes, fatigue was deeply set in the rest of the youth's face. In fact it looked as if he would soon pass out.

"You look tired Kyo"

The other teen, Kyo, looked down. His quick reply had an odd tone behind it, prelude of the coming of news one didn't want to hear.

"Yes I'm tired. All of us are..." The orange eyes flicked warily up at Yuki, who stood arms crossed in frustration. He knew he wasn't going to like what the other teen had to say.

"Yuki Tohru means a lot to all of us. But you and I both know she wouldn't want us killing ourselves to find her. Even if we can some how track her down tonight," He paused gesturing around himself at the pinkening sky.

"Today, there is no way we could possibly free her. We're all to tired, to weak Her kidnappers would beat us to pulps. Even yo-."

"So your giving up?"

Kyo glared at Yuki's interrupting remark and replied quickly, his voice biting and cold.

"No, we aren't giving up. Look Yuki, Sensei once told me: sometime the best plan of action, is a tactful retreat. Think about it Yuki, we all need rest. Our minds aren't working right. We need to regroup, rest, and try again later. When we have a plan of a map of the city, hell even some speculation of who took her!"

Yuki stood in silence for a moment, face covered in shadows as he thought. Then he looked up, having realized the truth in the other teen's words. With a brisk nod he told Kyo everything he need to know.

"Ok, Ill tell the girls, maybe we can call Shigure and get him to pick us up so we can sleep on the way home-"

"Kyo I'm going to stay out a little longer. I know she is close by. I can just feel it. Ill come home in a few hours."

With a brief pause the other teen considered the proposition, then answered. His voice and tone were commanding, leaving no room for protest.

"No, if you aren't back in an hour I'm coming to drag you back to the house… I may not like you but I'm not letting you die of exhaustion. It's my job to kill you."

With a small smile Kyo turned and walked back the Hanajima and Ou, who were sitting on a bench a little ways away. Both girls looked up at the sound of Kyo's foot steps, and hurried over to him, shooting worried glances towards Yuki. After a moment of quick hands movements and nods the trio moved away. Hanajima looked back at Yuki, Long black hair seeming to soak up the sun as she turned. With a slight twitch of her hand she waved, and something told Yuki that she sent it as good luck.

He stared after them, a small smile adorning his face. It seemed surreal, the normalcy of the group walking together. The smile quickly faded as Yuki realized that no matter what, the picture would never be accurate if Tohru wasn't there. Her silhouette missing from the groups outline was like a hole in his world. The uniform-plain expression that was on his face disappeared, replaced by look of determination. Yuki would find her, and he would find her soon.

He wheeled sharply to the left, dropping to his hands and knees as he did. He closed his eyes, listening for the telltale noises and vibrations from the ground that would announce his destined recruits. Tremors ran under his hands, announcing the subway had opened up already. The steady shake told him it was already running, probably only for a few hours considering the minimal chatter from humans. It didn't matter though, if humans were awake, it meant they had food.

Which means they should be awake.

He listened, hoping that soon he would hear the small scurry of tiny feet, the subtle noise that would alert him to-

Scratch 

He inhaled. He had just perceived the sound that he wanted.

That scratch said that there were two, no three of his little friends. Yuki parted his lips, allowing a low whistle to escape. The note was strong and high, to high for human ears. The instant he let the note flow from his lips Yuki heard the trio change direction, heading straight for him.

Yuki didn't have to wait long for his help to arrive. Three large rats varying in color and size, climbed out of a hidden grate and scampered over to him, letting out small peeps as they came. He smiled, reaching a hand to his new comrades as he did.

The smallest of the three, a rat around eight inches long from head to tail clambered onto his extended palm. Its short, sleek black fur was ruffled, and small piece of ear was missing from it left lobe. Its shinny black eyes looked Yuki over, judging whether the rat wanted to talk to him. It held it's self proudly, obviously the leader of the three.

After a moment of scrutiny it carefully leaned back, balancing tediously on its hind legs, little pink and black nose pointing up towards Yuki's face. It wiggled quickly, taking every scent in the area. This group was a lucky find, Yuki was sure of it.

"Wha' do yeh' wan' goiy??" it queried, a strange gruff accent slurring its words slightly.

"I'm looking for someone and I need some help."

"Whell, we ken 'elp, buh I'm nah promisin' anythang." Its bald tail flicked to the sides, sliding lazily across the naked flesh of Yuki's palm. Then wrapped tightly around his index finger, securing the rats hold on him.

"I know that you will do well with this task. But first, before you get your mission, I want to know your names."

The black rat twisted its eye brow up, looking quizzically at Yuki . Then, with a little snuffle it flashed its large front teeth at Yuki in an attempt at a smile.

" Names woof."

A small tug on Yuki's pants led his eyes to the second rat, a tawny female of about 9 inches. Her delicate ears flicked backwards as she stood onto her hind legs. Her long slender tail was covered with a light layer of soft fuzz, Yuki immediately likened it to a peach. She brought her front paws forward and down, placing them on her right knee in a sort of bashful position.

"Hello, I'm Winkey!" her small voice was high, but pleasant and laced with kindness. The small rat made him think of Tohru, and immediately his heart ached.

A loud Squeak pulled him out of his trance. The last rat was huge, the type of rat that the squeamish ran from. About 11 inches from head to tail, it seemed to fidget constantly. The sleek white fur, and red eyes identified it was a generic store bought rat. The large patches of missing fur branded as a lab rat.

"N-names…. Names…"

Winkey finished for him, looking at the white rat in reassurance.

"His name is Lick."

Yuki nodded then told the rats of Tohru's disappearance. The whole tale took less than two minutes, and the rats listened attentively as he told them his plan.

"I need you to search the insides of the buildings. Look for anything suspicious, like... unattended items. If you split up and search then you can cut down time. Set up a check in time, take about twenty minutes for each building then come back and tell the others if you found anything. That way if anyone gets hurt you'll know. I'll stay right here. Make sure to tell me if you find anything."

With little snuffles, they agreed to his plan. Winkey and Lick ran ahead taking buildings on the opposite side of the park. Yuki sighed and watched them go, allowing his body to finally rest as he fell down on one of the many park benches.  
"Hey goiy.."

Yuki looked up at the sound of the tiny rats voice.

"mm"

"Taka nap why don' yah? We'll handal et whell."

With that woof scampered to a building opposite the ones the others had gone to. Yuki watched until the small black shadow disappeared through some bike tires and was gone. Then he allowed him self to close his eyes and rest, but as he did he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen the bike somewhere before.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Woof ran through the bike wheels easily, lean body slipping through the bars inside easily. His tiny paws scrabbled noisily across the dark cement as he searched for a way into the foreboding building. This had once been his favorite haunts, but when strangers moved in he had been forced to leave.

All of the buildings new occupants were dark shady men. Perm-pressed secret agent suits and everything. They had seemed ok at first but then they had set up traps. Traps with delicious cheese, peanut butter and BBQ potato chips, the men knew how to catch someone.

At last Woof spotted his old entrance, it still wasn't blocked. For a moment he hesitated. Just standing by the opening gave him the heeby-jebbies. Strange ominous waves washed over him, making him believe that this would be the last day he saw the sky. With a quick shake of his small head, -that sent his large ears flapping-, woof squeezed through the crack in the bricks and made his way into the dark building.

The first thing he noticed was the fact that the air smelled odd. It was dirty, and had a tangy sweet under layer. The only thing the small black rat could liken it to would have been a dead pigeon that the tri had seen to nights ago. The pigeon had been half eaten, probably by some cat, and was so far gone that even woof wouldn't touch it.

With a cringe of his tiny nose, woof continued onwards, little claws ticking on the cold concrete floor. He wandered helplessly for a moment, searching for the air duct he knew started somewhere around the bottom of the stairs he currently sat by. He would have to wait. There was no way he could find it with out the heat coming on.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Three minutes later woof scurried quickly through the metal tunnel. He made sure to move his paws quickly, as the vent was on the verge of burning them. The metallic clang that accompanies all heating metals surrounded him, terrifying the tiny creature.

POP!

Woof screamed, a high squeak that echoed noisily off the walls, reverberating around the tunnel until all he could hear was his own alarmed noise. With a flying leap he shot out of a set of slits and crashed to the ground below.

The room was cold. Dark walls and little light made it difficult for the small rodent to see anything. A large desk sat in the middle of the room, and the smell of sweat hung thickly in the air. With a little sniffle Woof shot across the floor, suddenly catching a whiff of human scent.

_Tha gurl ez en tha rohm…_

He knew the scent. Yuki had smelled vaguely of her. A charming girl, he could tell just from her aroma. This girl wouldn't run from him, she would welcome him. He slipped easily through the bars and sat down in front of her.

The girl wasn't looking at him. She had her head in the corner, and from what Woof could tell, was trying to fall asleep.

Soreh huneh, buh I've goht ta talk to ye 

He cheeped loudly and scratched her leg lightly. With a small jump she looked, her face lighting up as soon as she saw him.

"Hi! How did you get in here? This is no place for you, you should leave! Oh! But tell Yuki where I am please… Then he can get help."

Her voice was kind, but frightened. She spoke quietly, as if afraid he might flee if she were any louder.

Woof peeped reassuringly and climbed into her lap. It seemed that right now she really needed something to hold. Something to let her know the world really wasn't falling apart. She curled her right hand around him, while her left came down in a smooth petting motion.

They stayed like that for a moment. Woof allowing the girl to take some comfort from his tiny frame. He really did wish her the best, and hoped that her rescue would go well. If things went well Yuki would have her out of here in no time. If it were exacerbated she might have to see the man she was in love with die. No matter how strong she seemed Woof was sure that would bring her down.

He gave a short cheep and jumped from her hand, tiny claws clicking noisily on the floor. She ran her hand lightly over his head, whispering encouragement and good luck as she did. Then he slipped between the bars and out into the room.

His exit seemed set; Nothing blocking his original entrance. He ran forwards, mind set on what he would tell Yuki, how he would explain directions on entrance. Woofs mind was so focused that he never saw the light turn on. Never heard the hammer sailing through the air at his tiny body.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Winkey looked at Lick. The crazy white lab rat was fidgeting as usual, and driving her into her own insanity.

They had been waiting for Woof for almost thirteen minutes over the designated time, and she wasn't so happy about it. As far as she knew he could be dead, and that wasn't the kind of thoughts she wanted to think. It seemed to her that that was all that happened lately. She'd meet people, they'd tell her a sad story, and then someone would die. The fact that death was becoming so regular that it didn't faze her anymore was really disturbing.

Yes, and now woof is going to be one of your tallies… 

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the horrible images of her dear friends life ending.

"Alright Lick, we are going in after him!"

Lick stared at her like a cow stares at an oncoming train.

"g-go in there!?" His voice rose in pitch as he questioned her, until the "r" sound at the end of there was almost non-existent.

"Yes Lick, we are going to rescue Woof!"

With that she charged across the street, tail held high as she scampered.

Winkey smiled as she heard Lick scream a protest but follow anyway, at least no she wouldn't have to face the unknown alone.

"Hang on Woof, we're coming!" 

_OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_OO

Woof first felt the hammer after it pinned him to the wall. It wasn't really painful as much as shocking. He turned his body as much as possible to look at the large metal contraption sticking from his belly. The flat head of the hammer faced away from him, pointing like an accusing finger at Woofs soon-to-be murderer. A human of course, one of the new tenants the he didn't trust. It was the smaller of the two, the one with redish brown hair. The man, his killer, scoffed and turned away a look of disgust on his face.

"Damn I hate rats, they're so fuckin' filthy."

Woof only made out half as the girl -Tohru he suddenly remembered Yuki calling her- started screaming at the other human.

"Your not human! How could you do this to another living thing you sick-sick-sick...FUCK!"

Her voice cracked on the last few words. The man said something in return, but Woof couldn't make it out. He found he didn't really care enough to try to, though he knew he should. His eyes slipped shut, and his ears drowned out the screaming, instead choosing to focus on the blood that dribbled down the hammers shaft. The noise of his life blood seeping away was oddly soothing, and Woof found the temptation to sleep hard to resist.

That was until he felt the hammer being pulled on.

Screaming pain shot through his body as the hammer-puller tugged the tool free of his abdomen. With a soft thud he fell, twisting to see who had removed the metal object. It had been the girl. She was standing, the hammer raised threateningly above her head, in a sort of mock angel-of-death position. The man advanced, yelling for her to drop the hammer, to come to her senses, but the girl stayed firm, yelling warnings right back at the man.

Woof thought he should have listened. And Tohru's actions proved he should have.

The man got to close to the girl, close enough for him to reach for the hammer. Though he didn't see what happened, but Woof did see the hammer come down, and heard the man scream. Blood flew everywhere as the man stumbled away from the girl, holding his left eye as red liquid fell quickly to the ground.

Woof turned and ran. The girl had exacerbated her own situation. He needed to reach Yuki before it was too late.

Unfortunately his trailing organs wouldn't allow him to go any further than the end of the ventilation shaft. He peeked back at his body, and quickly turned away as his eyes focused on the trail of red covering the light metal of the tunnel. With a small sound, that could only be likened to a human's dying moan, woof collapsed. His tiny head fell to the ground, and Woof knew he would never again escape the building.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yuki stared down at the two blood soaked rats. He had known that something was wrong the moment they exited the building. Known even before the blood had been visible. They just seemed to walk strangely, as if each of their tiny bodies were suddenly as stiff as boards. Then they had tottled out of the dark alley way and onto the light sidewalk. That was when he had seen the blood.

As soon as he could discern what the liquid was, Yuki was on his feet and running towards the small creatures, legs and arms pumping to create long strides. Fear coursed through his veins as he saw the vast amount of crimson coating the rats fur. He speed up and, in his haste, he crossed the street carelessly, mind ignoring the danger. Cars honked at him, their occupants screaming lurid curses at his fleeing back. Yuki dropped to his knees in the dark alleyway, skidding across said appendages, and ripping his tight pants on the knee.

"What happened?"

Lick ran forwards his once white fur now a pinkish color. His tiny black eyes were wide, and quite literally rolling with fear.

"It's Woof… h-he he found the girl... buh-but… they got him."

The rat fell letting out high squeaks of mourning.

Yuki turned to Winkey, wanting to see her tell him it wasn't true, to have her sooth away the thoughts that Tohru was in the company of a sick man. She looked away, confirming his worst fears. Tohru was in the hands of a madman. A sick murdering monster. He stood, Body ridged, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin metallic object. He quickly slid his nail through a crack in its middle and flipped it open. His fingers ghosted over the key pad, the red numbers blinking softly as he pressed them.

The phone rang only twice before a woman's voice answered. It was strained, worried, and angry all at once.

"Yuki?"

"Yes, Uo its me." He paused unsure of how to tell her. "I found Tohru, but I think she is in more danger then we originally thought. Uo, I think she is with a psychopath."

The line was silent for a minute as Uo digested the information.

"I know what you are thinking Yuki, but don't you do anything until we get there we don't kn-"

**Click **

Yuki flipped the phone shut. No matter what they said, no matter how hard they tried, he wouldn't stop. Uo was right. He didn't know what the men who had Tohru were capable of, and that was exactly why he had to get in that building and get her out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Again, happy three thousand sis. OH and no there isn't a mistake, you don't get to hear what happened between the rats. I couldn't write it. _

_Annd yeah. If you like my writing if you hate it… I dunno I don't really care if you hate it. As long as you help me make it better. And sorry I kinda lost interest at the end. My bad._

_Tony_


	11. Loss of hope

Well its offical. Joe Has left the building. Sorry Maria, but I guess I'm here to stay. This is a joint Tony Nat. ah, and a parting note to Maria from Joe:

Maria: Your reviews truly made me happy. I regret that I cant stay and write for you, but I believe I have put Tony through a sufficient enough guilt trip to take my place. We tried to email you once, but it didn't go through. We really appreciated you comments on ToMeWithLove. It made our day.

And to everyone else who said not to notice those Bastards we tip or hats and bow to you. Thanks for helping us apologies. Even though those childish brats were too uppity to end the feud on their side. I will miss you all while I'm gone, and will think of you often. Wish me luck.

Joe

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Tohru's legs were heavy. It seemed too much trouble for her to even push herself to her feet. She sat, legs tucked underneath her, knees supporting her weight, staring blnkly ahead. The ground was cold, and, in her short school uniform skirt, the rough concrete was quite painful. The room was dark. When the duo had left they had taken the light with them. They had taken her hope with them. At this rate there was no way she was going to escape. There was nothing she could do, if she hadn't been so foolish, if she hadn't been caught maybe….

But you were. You were stupid enough to get caught, and now you are stuck here. Probably for ever. I wonder if Yuki and Kyo are okay. I hope they feel better… I wonder if they noticed I am gone. I wonder if they care..

She shook her head, trying to shake the invisible demons of doubt from her mind. Tohru switched her attention from the hope-sucking thought to her surroundings.

In the dark she could see almost nothing, but she remembered the basic design of the room. If she wasn't mistaken there was a door somewhere to the left. The table Sega had beaten was towards the middle of the room.

Her mind flashed to the horrid man. Tohru had never really hated anyone before, but she was sure he was becoming one of the people she could say she truly did. Sega terrified her. Every sound she heard made her think of the deranged man. Every twitch in the darkness made her believe he was coming to get her for hitting him, biting him.

With a small sigh Tohru made her mind stop. She was fairly confident the Shi would protect her from him.

But what happens when Shi turns on you too? What happens when he follows through with the rest of his job and kills you? You know that is what they want; to kill you rip you apart.

"No" she said as firmly as she could, but even to her it was lost to the darkness. It was swallowing everything. Her hope, her chances, and now her voice.

Scratch Scratch 

Tohru froze, listening intently to the darkness. The air hummed with the silence, a high frequency cream that made her heart pound with anxiety. She sat still, hardly daring to breath for a good two minutes.

The noise never repeated.

Tohru closed her eyes. Trying to convince herself that she was hearing things. There had been no movement, it had all been her mind. With a small smile she began pretending it was Yuki, coming to her rescue.

_My knight! I know He'll be in armor! A true knight… with a lance and shield!_

Fairy tale images of Yuki and herself pranced in her head, she the lowly maid, and he the handsome prince. He would ride in, sweep her off her feet and take her away from her dreadful stepbrother/evil wizard/all around nasty guy. With a happy sigh Tohru sank back against the wall, all happiness and optimism restored. Yuki would come she was sure of it.

Scratch 

Her head shot up. She knew she had heard it that time. There was something else in the room, and it was getting closer every second. Tohru curled herself against the wall. Maybe if Sega thought that she was afraid he would come in. then she could knock him out again, and make a break for it.

The noise moved closer, to small to be a person she figured, considering the sound hadn't reverberated at all. She strained her eyes, hoping if she made them wider that she would be able to see whatever was approaching her.

What ever Tohru had been expecting it was certainly not the small, adorable black rat that ran towards her. It must have come from the small grated vent that sat somewhere across the room- as she now recalled. It was sleek and comforting, and moved in a cool and calm way. As if it knew exactly what to do, and could help her get through this. It reminded her so much of Yuki her heart ached.

_Yuki! If it's a rat then Yuki can talk to it!_

"Hi! How did you get in here? This is no place for you, you should leave! Oh! But tell Yuki where I am please… Then he can get help."

Her outburst surprised her in how desperate it sounded. The rat looked at her, eyes shining black and squeaked as if it understood. With a vute snuffling noise she wasn't sure if it knew it had made, it climbed into her lap and forced its head into her loosely clenched palm.

Tohru suddenly understood why people liked rats as pets. Its small body was warm against her chilled flesh, and the simple feel of its breathing made her heart sore for the first time in hours.

Hours… its really only been hours since you were brought here. It feels as though days have passed.

Tohru was snapped from her thoughts as the small rat cheeped at her, as if telling her to release him. With a small nod she complied, suddenly feeling very silly that she had nodded to a rat. It dropped to the floor tiny claws clicking as they meet the hard stone floor. She reached out, and ran her hand lightly over its head, suddenly very aware that her life now rested with the small rat.

"Good luck! Watch out for cars, and bikes, and people! Don't forget to tell Yuki, Okay?"

With out another sound it slipped from the corner. Tohru felt tears begin to well in her eyes, she had just made and lost a friend, probably in more time than it would take for her captors to kill her.

All sadness quickly became hate as the lights flicked on.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Tohru looked up in time to see the hammer fly from Sega's hand. Time seemed to pass in slow motion as the tool flew through the air, flipping over itself again and again until the sharp side of the hammers head lodged itself through the small rat, and into the wall.

"Damn I hate rats. They're so fuckin' filthy."

Tohru could only stare in horror as the small rat whimpered and twisted its body around to look at the hammer jutting from its naked belly. In that instant Tohru knew she hated him. Every piece of her wanted to see that man suffer.

"Your not human! How could you do this to another living thing you sick-sick-sick...FUCK!"

"Do what? You mean kill it? Why does it matter its only a filthy little piece of trash.. hmm much like you!"

She threw herself to the side, fingers clasping the handle of the hammer firmly in her right hand.

"Whoa there girley, why don't you put that down. That is no tool for you!"

Sega advanced slowly hands outstretched, voice calm and soothing.

Tohru stood up, holding the hefty metal tool high above her head, feeling adrenaline flowing through her body. She placed her left foot forward, knowing that if she swung with her right hind it would deal more damage.

Sega shuffled towards her, obviously believing that she would back down. How wrong he was.

As soon as he was in range Tohru swung the hammer as hard as she could, closing her eyes; not wanting to see if she hit, and not wanting to see if she missed. Her sign that she had struck him was a soft squelching noise, a sound that sounded distinctly like smashing a grape between your fingers, followed by a hollow thump.

Then Sega screamed.

Tohru's eyes flew open, Sega was stumbling away, blood sliding through red coated fingers. Hollow sounds of anguish poured from his lips as he backed away from her.

Horror griped Tohru's heart, not because she had just mutilated a mans face, but because she didn't care.

She brought her hands to her face, cupping her head in her hands. The world seemed to slow, to become silent. Sega's mouth was still open, she knew he was still screaming, but she could not hear it. Her lungs refused to suck in air, her limbs refused to move. All thoughts but one escaped her head:

_I just hurt a man… and I don't care._

Tohru uncovered her face, anger lancing across it as she did. He deserved it. This, This **Beast **deserved every shot of pain going through him. He had killed that innocent rat, he had killed a part of Yuki. He had killed her last chance of someone finding her.

With that realized Tohru's resolve faded. She sank heavily to her knees, sobs over taking her tough exterior. She didn't care anymore. It was too much to ask of her, to much to ask her to live on. To not give up. Tears openly fell down her face, sliding down in random patters, just like Sega's blood. It was over, that little black rat was her only chance, and now he was dead.

Heavy footsteps snapped her out of her hysterical daze. Sega was advancing on her, blood still oozing from his eye. He held his gun, leveled at her face. His own visage twisted in pain and anger, creating a horrible mask of insanity.

In that moment Tohru realized she was going to die.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This has been done for about eight years now.. I just haven't gotten around to posting it.

Enjoy… I'm going to lie down, I have a killer head ache.


	12. Finally! an update!

Sorry it took so long for me to update guys! Hope you enjoy!

Nataiea

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This chapter is dedicated to Allegra

God just needed someone to paint the rainbow

I only wish he hadn't chosen you.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yuki sat on the bench for what seemed like hours, the heat of the summer sun washing over his unresponsive form. The bright light blanketed him, making him seem to glow with a deep internal light. His mesmerizing purple eyes were half closed as he stared off into space, oblivious of everything going on around him. Including the sighs of the many girls who had managed to trip, run in to, smash, drop, or fumble some object as they passed.

His tired gaze wandered lazily over his surroundings, taking in everything yet nothing. Once again, he paused as he made out the shape of the broken bike. Why did it seem so familiar? He slowly got to his feet, his gaze sharpening as a possibility blossomed. His slow steps quickened as he neared the bike, and with an angry yell, he grabbed the handle and twisted the bike around. He knew. He knew why it was so familiar to him. It was Haru's bike.

Which meant…

His gaze slowly moved up the imposing building in front of him.

Which meant that Haru was taken as well.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I know what you are thinking Yuki, but don't you do anything until we get there, we don't kn-"

Click

"SHIT!" Uo threw her phone to the ground in annoyance.

"Why do you REFUSE to listen to reason?" She paced for a moment, running over options in her aching head. Slowly she leaned down and picked up her phone and twirled it in her shaking hands, still fuming over Yuki's idiocy. Gradually she calmed, and Yuki's tortured voce from the night before ran through her mind.

"LISTEN UO! YOU'RE RIGHT; I DON'T LOVE HER LIKE YOU. I AM IN LOVE WITH HER. DON'T YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF NOT CARING FOR HER. I WOULD DIE BEFORE I Let…" _It's because he's in love with her. He just can't stand the thought of losing her._ A small tear crept out of the corner of her eye as she pictured Tohru's smiling face.

"Neither can I" she whispered.

Her reminiscing was interrupted by Kyo crashing through the door to her left. They were at the Sohma household, and she had left him to sleep in his room when her phone had rung.

"Unnn…." Kyo had a look on his face that slightly resembled a crushed weasel face in its death throes. Uo let a weak laugh escape her partially opened lips as she made the comparison.

"Huh...what?" Kyo was immediately defensive.

"What are you laughing at?" His deep orange gaze sharpened into a glare as she laughed harder.

"Oh stop it carrot-top! Don't get all angry every time I say something" For a moment they lapsed back into their old ways. Back to having no worries other than who won the next game or word war.

Kyo's eyes instantly softened and he stepped forward, grabbing Uo's hand. She looked into his sleep muddled gaze for a moment, and saw how tormented he was by the loss of Tohru. She looked down, not wanting to think about what could have happened to her little Tohru. Kyo suddenly looked worried.

"Hey! Hey…I...it's alright! We'll find her!" Uo wondered what he was talking about for a moment, before she realized that a steady stream of tears was gushing down her cheeks.

"Oh…I…I'm sorry. I just…" _Snap put of it!_ She scolded herself. Yuki's found Tohru and he's going to do something stupid if we don't stop him.

"Yuki called" She announced firmly, quickly regaining her composure.

"Get Hana, we need to go NOW"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yuki wandered cautiously into the intimidating building, his silver hair swaying slightly in the slight breeze that accompanied him through the door. His sharp gaze cut through the darkness of the long hall that stretched out in front of him. A noise off to the side caused him to start, and crouching quickly down, he pressed his lean form against the cold asphalt.

After sitting this way for several minutes, he determined that there was nothing there. Irately he shoved himself off of the wall, berating himself for cowering. _As if you are some frightened child, can't even approach whatever made the noise._ His angry thoughts were interrupted by the whisper of cloth brushing against a wall to his right. He froze, gaping into the darkness in search of the source of the noise.

Suddenly a rough hand was positioned forcefully over his mouth. Without missing a beat Yuki grabbed the enemy hand, and twisted it, causing the rest of the body to come tumbling forward.

"Yuki" The voice cut through the silence like a knife. A hand was gently placed on his shoulder. Suspiciously Yuki peered into the imposter's face. It was Hanajima.

"Oh…" He released Kyo's hand and took a step back.

"Sorry" He looked down, ashamed of himself for acting so tactlessly. He should have known it was them.

"It's fine" Kyo stood, massaging his wrist. Glaring at the amused look that Uo gave him, he purposefully sauntered over to Yuki.

"So…did you find anything new?" His carroty eyes narrowed at Yuki's exasperated sigh.

"Ask Uo." Yuki walked slowly away from the group, inspecting each and every object he passed carefully.

Yuki's slowly made his way to the doorway, and paused there for just a moment, taking in the sight in front of him. The light murmur of Uo's voice sounded off to his left and to his right... nothing. The darkness started so suddenly, that it seemed to absorb the feeble amount of light filtering into the building. He took a step forward …and another, and was swallowed by the darkness. His eyes adjusted quickly to the gloom, and as they did, he saw…destruction. His gaze wandered slowly over the wreckage in front of him. It looked as though the building had gone out of use years ago... after being attacked by pirates. Just ahead there was what looked to be a mutilated washing machine with a machete through it. Yuki wandered forward, taking care not to cut himself on any of the jagged remains. Looking at the debris splayed out in front of him, he couldn't help but contemplate why someone would bring Tohru to a place like this. He ran over the possibilities in this mind, trying desperately to avoid the most likely …she was never meant to leave. He suddenly found himself trying to imagine life without Tohru. With out her shining face, would life really seem worthwhile?

His morbid thought process was interrupted by Kyo pushing past him. Yuki's eyes narrowed as the orange haired teen began making his way through the dark hallways.

"Wow." Hanajima's dreamy voice echoed through the gloom, seeming to come from every direction at once. Yuki looked back at her, tilting his head slightly to indicate his confusion.

Hanajima shrugged "He must have eyes like a cat."

Yuki bit back a smile and quickly made his way to Kyo's dim form, ignoring the other teens' protests as he roughly pushed him to the side, continuing past him.

Every step he took seemed horrendously loud, reverberating off of the walls, and echoing through the gloom. Meticulously he guided the group through the darkness, squinting his eyes in an attempt to see as far into the building as possible.

Just ahead, he saw a slight disturbance in the gloom. He stepped hurriedly forward, trying to register what it was that had caught his attention, but there was nothing. The darkness was just as calm as it had been since they entered into it. Shaking his head slightly, Yuki pushed the gnawing thought that he should investigate further from his mind, focusing on the task at hand: Finding Haru and Tohru and getting the hell out of here.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kyo glared at Yuki's back as the rat wandered deeper into the creepy building, trying to tell himself that Yuki was only being a complete ass because he was worried about Tohru… it wasn't working. He was steadily getting more and more infuriated at his cousin. He rose slowly to his feet, tearing his gaze away from Yuki as he saw the flutter of cloth rounding a corner. He stared intently at the place where it had disappeared, but was distracted by a dinging noise just ahead. Trying to locate the origin of the noise caused him to be temporarily blinded by the rush of light that suddenly filled the room.

Hastily covering his eyes, he let off a few choice words, and blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision of the many colored dots that danced around the edge of his vision. As his sight cleared, he saw elevator doors, closing rapidly, due to their lack of occupancy. Kyo had only taken one step in the elevator's direction, and Yuki was there, hastening Hanajima and Uo through the open elevator doors. The teen raised his eyebrows in his cousins' direction, giving him a look that clearly told him to get his ass moving. Kyo started forward, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, and stepped into the cramped elevator.

Yuki slid in next to him, the doors shutting with a resounding ding behind him. The four of them stood in silence for a while, each lost in thought. Worries kept chasing each other around in Kyo's head, each one clamoring to be heard. Negative thoughts pushed themselves to the front of his mind. He found himself thinking about what they might find when they reached their destination. They didn't really know why Tohru had been taken. They didn't even know if she was still alive. What then? What if they found her and these… monsters who had taken her had already…

He shook his head, his bright hair falling over his eyes. Trying to find something to focus on, he let his eyes wander over everyone in the confined space. Hanajima had her head down, her gleaming locks falling over her face. He wouldn't even have known she was nervous had it not been for her hands. They were clamped so tightly together that he could see the veins sticking out in her pale arms. Uo, to her left, was shaking slightly as she stared determinedly at the ceiling. Her foot was tapping incessantly as she mouthed something over and over again, her full lips trembling as she held back tears. And then there was Yuki. His face seemed drawn as he stared straight ahead, a determined look plastered over his attractive features. And yet hiding behind that guarded look was pure, limitless fear. Kyo could see the desperation that those dark eyes tried so hard to hide.

Kyo tilted his head back again, out of distractions, and started trying to think of a plan, resolutely ignoring the thought that they may not need one. He ran over the possibilities in his head. If… WHEN they got Tohru, they might need to hurry out, just in case her attackers were there. They needed a quick escape.

Kyo was suddenly hurled forward by the force of the elevators unexpected stop. He crashed into Yuki, who, in turn stumbled into Uo, the elevators rocking motion making it near impossible for them to regain their balance.

"What's going on?" Kyo's voice seemed louder than usual, panic laced through it.

"It appears we've stopped" Yuki's sarcastic tone didn't fit his face at all. His eye's were wild as he searched desperately for an escape.

"Reeeeeaaly" Kyo couldn't help but respond to his cousins' statement.

"STOP! Could you two stop fighting for two sec-"

Uo's lecture was cut off by a loud twang. As the sound echoed through the shaft around them, the teens felt themselves shift slightly, as though something had put the elevator off balance. This sensation was quickly followed by a whip-like crack that sounded kind of like…

Kyo suddenly found himself being thrown across the elevator by the force of it tipping sharply to the side. His eyes widened as he abruptly realized what was happening.

The elevator cords were snapping.

Yuki immediately took control of the situation.

"Uo! Hanajima! Get over to the other side of the elevator; try to tip it back so it's even. Kyo, come with me. We're going to get out of here."

Kyo's body responded before his mind had even comprehended what Yuki had said. He found himself moving swiftly across the small elevator, and by the time his mind had caught up, he was standing next to Yuki.

"Grab that side of the door; we're going to pry it open."

Kyo nodded stiffly, placing his hands on the inside of the door and bracing himself.

"Ready?" Yuki's voice had a slight quaver to it, but he stood firm, his pale hands gripping his side of the door.

"PULL!" The two boys began hauling vigorously on the firmly closed doors, sweat running in steady rivulets down their flushed faces as the doors stayed stubbornly shut. Then, with a screeching noise that seemed to block out all else, the doors began to open.

The boys pulled feverishly on the protesting doors, hauling them open inch by inch. Finally, the space between the doors was wide enough for someone to slip through. Yuki let go of the door and peered upward. Searching urgently for some hope of escape.

"There!" He shouted, the echo of his voice instantly swallowed by the darkness surrounding them. Kyo followed his gaze, and saw a closed door, mere feet above them.

"Kyo will need to go first, so that he can…" Yuki's voice trailed off, though he continued to mutter distractedly to himself as he paced in tight circles around the elevator.

"OK" His voice suddenly gained power, authority, as he stepped toward Kyo.

"You go up first, get the doors open, then I'll hand Uo and Hanajima up to you, got it?" His eyes shone with a blazing look that Kyo didn't dare oppose.

"I'm on it" Kyo began crawling out of the car.

"Kyo!" Yuki's strained voice instantly caused him to halt, and her nearly sprained his neck trying to turn and see what was wrong.

Worry creased Yuki's face as her looked up at the man he had grown to know…even to like over the past year.

"Be careful; ok?" His voice faded as he got to the end of the sentence, and Kyo was amazed to see him staring at his feet.

"Wow…" Kyo started, trying to reassure Yuki.

"The look on your face was almost endearing!...almost. Keep working on it!" He smiled slightly, and then turned, staring at his destination. It was only a little ways away. He could get there fine. Swallowing nervously, he pushed himself out of the unsteady elevator, and into open air. His grasping hand immediately fell on an easy hold, some kind of pipe sticking out of the wall. He immediately grabbed it, and ignoring his surroundings, began to climb. It took him but moments to reach the doors, and he hauled himself onto the small ledge outside of them, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding as his feet hit something semi-solid again.

With a deep breath he set his feet and pulled on the tightly sealed doors in front of him. It was easier than he had expected. .The doors opened after only a small amount of urging, squealing open to reveal the clutter of a dark room beyond. Quickly recovering from his surprise that he had managed to open the doors so easily, he leaned over the ledge and shouted down to the others.

"OK, I got it. You can head on up!"

Instants after the words had left his mouth, Kyo saw a groping hand in the darkness. He quickly reached out and grabbed it, grunting slightly in exertion as he leaned back, hauling Uo up the shaft. As she reached the top, he stumbled, falling gracelessly on his back, Uo nearly falling on top of him. For an instant, her lips had been inches from his own, before her had twisted to the side, throwing her away from him.

He quickly walked away, a deep blush enveloping his face. Reaching back down, he muttered "Hana?", and nearly screamed as her hand emerged out of the gloom, wasting no time in grasping his in a grip that felt like she was trying to crush his hand. Lifting her was easy, but would have been much easier had she not been flailing wildly. As soon as he set her on the ledge, she fled into the room beyond, gasping for air. Kyo peered back down into the darkness as the elevator shifted again, concern clear in his voice as he called Yuki's name.

Out of the doors of the elevator, he saw Yuki's stunning purple eyes, glinting in the darkness.

"Did I ever tell you that you're eyes look kinda like a rat's?" Kyo shouted, allowing himself to relax slightly. _We're almost there_

Yuki laughed, looking up at Kyo's shadowed form. A real smile crossed his face…

Just as the last cord broke, and the elevator plunged into the darkness, taking Yuki with it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


	13. Red

I am so amazingly sorry about how long it took me to update! I know that I am the biggest slacker on earth and I deserve punishment for that. I give you all permission to do the most ghastly things you can possibly think up to me… in your minds... or in person if you know me. Or you can tell them to me, and my brother will do them! Gladly i'm sure...

Here you go!

Enjoy!

Nataeia

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Why is there no red?_

It was the only thought he found himself capable of formulating. He did not register the cold of the cement beneath him, the dampness seeping through his ripped and ragged clothes, or even the pain that lanced through every fiber of his being. No, the only thought that occupied his head was the one. Why, of all the colors surrounding him was there no red? His entire being consisted of colors. Yellows lazily floating, blues thrashing about like waves on a tireless sea, greens overcoming orange, teal and magenta melding creating new colors, maroon, purple, brown, white, charcoal, peach, pink, grey, lavender, even chartreuse... but no red.

Why, if his thought process could not extend beyond this vast sea of color, was there no red? He liked red. It was a nice color. Not his favorite, but still, he thought it should be included in the slowly darkening display surrounding him. Still, as the colors faded to black, he realized that the lack of red was probably not the most important of things he could be thinking about. Thing was, he couldn't quite focus on anything that seemed more prominent. Even as he became aware of other things around him, the small rocks and dirt digging into his exposed back, the cockroach scuttling near his left hand, the small amount of light filtering onto his face, the dampness of the air around him, and, as his bodily functions began to work again, a faint noise, filtering through his delirium.

"...you sick-sick-sick...FUCK!!"

Was that Tohru's voice? No... It couldn't be. Tohru didn't swear. She was too...Tohru.

"Whoa there girly, why don't you put that down. That is no tool for you!"

Who was that man? And what was he talking about? The noises were beginning to make his head hurt as they drug him faster and faster out of his blissful bewilderment. Silence followed, and he could feel himself slipping back into an all enveloping sleep. As the colors moved in again he heard a faint noise. Strange and quiet... like a piece of rotten fruit being dropped, or the sound that Jell-O makes when you push a finger into it.

Then someone screamed.

The scream erased the beautiful colors from his consciousness in a way his own drifting thoughts couldn't.

Still, the colors floated around him, but now he was conscious of the pain lancing through his body, of his burning limbs, the blood slowly oozing down the side of his face, the fact that there was something cold and heavy trailing around his neck.

A smashing noise accompanied by several loud cracks made him open his eyes, and a bloodcurdling scream from Tohru made him move.

As soon as he gained his slightly uncertain feet, he discovered where the elusive red had been hiding. It had apparently been lying in wait for the moment when all the pain that his hazy previous condition had covered so well hit him in one blinding wave, sending him tumbling right back to the floor, sight entirely obscured by the beautiful mixtures of reds sparking across his streaming eyes. The one realization that he made as he picked himself back up was this: He didn't like red.

The process of standing the second time was not nearly as hard, though the edges of his vision seemed to be tinted a permanent blood red. With a deep breath he gathered himself and glanced at his surroundings. Dank walls dripped on all sides, no windows breaking their grey monotony. A single metal desk was the only thing, other than an iron door and a half wall that separated him from whatever was happening with Tohru, that broke the continuous emptiness. The table was blank, nothing sat atop it, nor, did he think, was there anything inside. The door looked to be thick, probably heavily bolted.

He was reminded of his reasoning for torturing his aching head when his thoughts were cut off by yet another pain-filled scream from Tohru. Focusing his thoughts, he rounded the wall slowly, hoping to catch whoever it was by surprise. The scene displayed before him seemed almost innocent at first. Before him he saw a man, leaning before Tohru, blocking most of her thin form with his thicker frame. He looked to be holding one her hands, pressed to the ground in an almost tender way. Something else gleamed red in his other hand, but it was too far in the shadows to be made out.

Tears streamed down Tohru's face, but they did not immediately seem to be tears of sadness, nor of pain. They seemed more like those of a young girl when she is told that her lover is not who she thought. Off to their left a small animal, a rat by the looks of it crawled away, stomach close to the ground, as if it was attempting stealth away from this odd group of humans.

As his gaze swept over the scene a second time he saw it for what it really was. It wasn't until he focused on the rat that he realized that a steady stream of blood was seeping from a hole opened in its middles, its small feet kept getting tangled in its trailing entails, and it made pathetic noises of pain and desperation as it tried to get to something entirely on the other side of the room. He knew it wouldn't make it; its life was obviously ending even as he watched.

He looked back to Tohru just in time to see the man raise the object in his hand, as it passed into the faint light; he recognized it as a hammer. It seemed to lower in slow motion as he realized its destination. The man shifted slightly to the side, and revealed the hand that he had clasped in his own. Tohru's hand was twisted and bloody. Most of the bones in her first three fingers looked to be very broken, several of them sticking out of the broken skin. It was as he was taking all of this in that the hammer smashed into her hand yet again.

His breath caught in his throat as Tohru whimpered, screaming yet again apparently being beyond her. Yet again his vision flashed red, but this time not with pain. This man... this... monster, was torturing Tohru. Poor, innocent, kind Tohru.

He would pay.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was too quiet. They had been sitting like this for what seemed like hours, though Kyo knew it had only been a few minutes. The girls, Uo and Hanajima, sat just across the hall from him, but he didn't have a thought to spare for either of them, his head was too filled with swirling thoughts and memories that, try as he might, he couldn't push from his brain. His hands shook uncontrollably as he clenched them, turning his eyes to the ceiling in hopes that its dark blankness would deter his thoughts.

When that last cord had snapped, the elevator had seemed to sit, suspended for a minute in midair. And then it had fallen, for stories and stories, taking his cousin down with it. Yuki had begun to grow on him. The jerk of a rat had begun to show his true colors to Kyo... and Kyo had realized that he liked this hidden part of Yuki. The smile that he had seen on Yuki's face, and more, in his eyes, had been… real. The only real smile Kyo had ever seen on the rat's stupid effeminate face. He had even allowed himself to believe... to hope, for just a moment, that his cousin had survived. The fall was long, but he was in a sturdy metal box, and Yuki was strong, he could-

- The explosion erased all doubt.

Just after the elevator car had hit, while Kyo was still leaning out into the shaft, screaming his cousins name, in some vain hope that he could save him if he only called for him desperately enough, a booming explosion echoed from below, and a bit of the car nearly took Kyo's head off.

No... Yuki was dead. There was no doubt in his mind.

He hated the rat. He was an ass. Everything had always come easily to him, even when they were young. This had turned him into the insufferable jerk that he was now. Everything he said, everything he did, made Kyo feel like dirt. He hated his cousin with every fiber of his being.

So why did it hurt so much?

Try as he might, Kyo couldn't stop the tears.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Why wouldn't he wake? No matter how many times she called his name, he wouldn't wake. And she couldn't reach him. Just to be able to touch him, to know that he was alright. But the chains roping around her ankles prevented her from moving much more than a few inches in any direction.

Tohru covered her face with her hand, gritting her teeth in frustration. She hadn't even known that he was here. A prisoner; like herself. After she had wounded Sega, he had pulled the gun out, pointing it directly at her face. It was strange. As she sat there, looking into the barrel of the gun pointed at her head, she had not felt any fear. Instead, she had felt a kind of…relief. Acceptance, knowing that now, at last, the nightmare was over. Sega would kill her, and she'd be gone. She would no longer be a burden on Shigure, Hatori, Kyo…Yuki. But, the bullet that she sat so expectantly awaiting never came. Instead, Sega had thrown the gun aside, and grabbed the disregarded hammer.

After the first few blows, it hadn't really hurt anymore. She assumed she had gone into shock. Then, as Sega brought the hammer down for the third time, she had seen someone standing behind him, face veiled by shadows. Standing there in the darkness, she was certain she could see Yuki, his beautiful purple eyes shining fiercely, the curve of his face, tilted slightly as he evaluated the situation. She even swore that she could see dazzling armor, glinting in the fading light, and a shining sword, grasped firmly in his strong left hand.

Her fantasy had been shattered as he ran forward, face twisted in rage and disgust, and she had realized that her knight in shining armor was not Yuki… but Hatsuharu. Her disappointment lasted only a moment, and was abruptly replaced by relief, for about two seconds, until Haru had hit the end of the chain he had apparently not realized was around his neck. As the chain had gone taunt, he had swung back, legs swinging into the air, and one of his flailing feet had hit the just turning Sega squarely in the chin, throwing him back several feet, and knocking him unconscious.

This was not her worry. As Haru had hit the ground he had sputtered a few times and then had fallen silent, and now was lying in a crumpled heap just beyond her grasping reach.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, the cold biting into her bruised and broken hand. She hadn't even glanced at it… she didn't want to know. But at the same time… Taking a deep breath, she brought her hand up, cradling her wrist with the other hand, and glanced down at it.

The bones of her index and middle finger were protruding from the skin, jagged edges cutting her as she brushed a hand over them. The nails on both fingers and the one on her ring finger were gone, the skin underneath broken, blood sluggishly oozing from where hardened enamel used to sit. Her hand was hardly recognizable as such. She winced down at it, biting her lip as she thought about what cleaning would be like after this. With a sigh, she looked back at Haru, hoping that in the time she had been distracted he had woken up. Unfortunately, the cow's thin form lay just as it had before, sprawled on his back, one arm twisted underneath him. She could see an angry bruise spreading on his neck where the chain had caught. Holding her hand to her chest, she lowered herself to the ground, so that she was in a lying position, facing Haru's unresponsive form. Shifting so that her hand was comfortable, she finally settled on nestling it in the warmth of her spread hair, where the biting cold couldn't reach it.

She lost track of time as she lay there, watching Haru for some sign, unable to ignore that fact that, just off to her left the hammer lay, red drying in veins down its side; but she eventually fell into a listless sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Time seemed to drag by as Kyo, Uo, And Hanajima sat on the cold concrete, each trying to escape from their own individual thoughts. Kyo's mind was blank after replaying Yuki's fall again and again. He had to escape… he had to find away to get away from…

Closing his eyes, Kyo pushed himself to his feet, gritting his teeth as he turned his hardened gaze to the girls.

"Come on. We came here for a reason. We still need to find Tohru and get out. Let's go"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Tohru awoke to her name being called, in a strained and hoarse voice.

Looking up, she found herself face to face, if a few feet away, with Haru. She gazed sleepily at him for a few moments, until she got her bearings, and then, realizing that she was indeed looking into the awake and relatively well face of Haru, a squeal of surprise and joy escaped her partially opened lips.

"Haru!! You… when you… I was…. YOU'RE OK!!" Forgetting her bindings, she lunged toward him, only to be stopped by the chins trailing around her ankles.

"Forget me… how are you? You're hand..." Haru trailed off, gaze shifting from her face to her hand, flinching as he caught sight of it, in all of its broken and bloody glory.

Her response was cut short by the sound of the door opening. Both she and Haru spun at the sound, staring at the slowly opening door in anticipation. It seemed to take years for the door to open, Tohru was tortured with thoughts of who may beyond the door. She noticed, and made a side note, that the place where Sega had lay was empty, he and the hammer both were gone.

As the thought crossed her mind, the door opened fully, and she saw three forms. Even through the dark she could make out a mop of bright orange hair.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

YAY!! It is done!! At last… This took me… well you all know how long it took me, and for that I yet again apologies.

Random thing that made me giggle: When I spell checked this, the suggestion that I got for Shigure was seizure… lol.

Other Random thing that made me giggle: My sister recently "invited" (more like forced) my dad, my brother, and I to come and visit her so that we could help her do up her house, and while we were there painting, my accident prone brother Tony managed to:

Walk under a ladder, knock it over, and after having the ladder land on him, had the bucket of (brown) paint that had been atop it break his foot.

Limping around, due to his broken foot, he tripped over my sister's cat, half kicked it down the stairs, and due to this, got a stomp-kick-thing from Nicci that broke the only toe the paint can didn't get to.

Haha...laugh at his misery….and then feel guilty about it…

Now I feel bad… ima go give him a hug. I SWEAR… on my life that I will not take so long to update again. I will try my utmost to update within the next week or so!! Sorry again!

Btw, reveiws and concrit would be utterly amazing. I am having some severe writers block and i need all the help i can get. Your update will certainly come faster if i has inspiration!! :)


	14. Tohru

Lol

Lol... the bit about the disease is a reference to a story my brother is preparing to finish up, you should read it- Virus by unfulfilled-dreams….just not THIS part of unfulfilled-dreams!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Despair. An emotion that takes control of you: crushing you with its fearful intensity. It always seems inescapable, as though no matter where you turn; there it will be, staring you in the face. Whether it comes upon you slowly, like a rock sinking to the bottom of a lake, or quickly, like a wreaking ball, smashing into you, headlong, despair comes without warning, and once it has you in its grasp, it is nearly impossible to escape it.

As Kyo's orange eyes roamed around the room this was the emotion that pressed down on him. From what his steadily adjusting eyes could see of the gaping space, it was nothing but a void except for a stupid metal desk, sitting right in the middle of the floor.

_Who puts a friggen desk in the middle of a big room like this anyway? That doesn't even make any sense. What if someone comes in and trips over it in the dark?_

Pointless thoughts whirled around in Kyo's head as he tried to avoid the one that was making a fierce attempt to push itself to the front; If Tohru was even in this monstrosity of a useless abandoned building, how would they ever find her? And, if they did find her… what kind of shape would she be in?

Kyo clenched his fists as the thought broke through his makeshift shields of forced thoughts and washed over him, macabre images of Tohru's mangled body flashing through his mind. The afore-mentioned despair pressed down on him with renewed intensity as he realized how futile it all was. Everything that could possibly go wrong was going wrong.

_The only thing that could make this worse would be… I dunno… for me to catch some terrible disease and die…_

Kyo sighed, rubbing a hand down his face as if by doing so he could rid himself of the exhaustion that weighed on his limbs, of the deep despondency that lurked around every corner, of the knowledge that no matter what they did, they would never-

-then he heard his name.

"Kyo-kun? Is that you Kyo-kun?" He couldn't immediately bring himself to look for the source of the voice. Now that he focused, he could hear someone, someone other than himself and his two current companions, shifting in the broken darkness. Shallow breathing reached his ears as he focused on the noise, slowly, painfully turning his head toward the source.

The voice… it sounded kind of like…. And no one else called him Kyo-kun. He couldn't bring himself to believe it. He hadn't realized it until that moment, but deep in his heart, he had lost hope. He really believed that Tohru was dead.

There, in the darkness, he saw a form, small and fragile. A tattered uniform, covered with mud, coal dust, and… something else. Tangled brown hair, matted with dried and fresh blood, tiny hands, scraped and bruised, shading large brown eyes, squinting through the darkness, a small mouth, curved down on one side where the lower lip was grasped in whitened enamel.

Kyo's breath hitched as he saw her; from behind him he heard Uo and Hanajima's cries of shock and joy. He felt tears of a forgotten joy sliding down his dirtied face, unchecked, as he looked at her. She somehow looked the same, even though she must have been so changed. That same look that she always gave him, as though she could make all of his worries fly away, just with one little smile.

"T...Tohru" He choked as her name exited his mouth, and before he knew it he was on the ground in front of her, preparing to squeeze her tiny body to him, no matter who was in the room, no matter what would happen.

"Kyo-kun!" She leaned back, a shocked expression on her dirty face, and it just made him want to hug her more. Uo and Hanajima beat him to it, however, and left him to take care of the half naked monstrosity that he just now realized was his stupid little brat of a cousin.

"How the hell did you get here?" He scooted toward Haru, grabbing the chain around the cow's neck and hauling him forward.

"Owowowowowow! Dick! Be at least slightly gentle how-bout?! I have been captured for a while, and my neck has already taken a good amount of abuse today!" Haru frowned, giving Kyo a slightly hurt look as orange eyes met grey.

"Oh please I'm... I'm sorry Haru. I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you ok?" Haru looked quickly up at the sudden tenderness in his cousin's voice. Kyo could tell that he knew something was wrong by the careful look of suspicion in his eyes. Kyo avoided his cousin's eyes, ignoring the question he could see on Haru's dirty face.

Haru looked around, counting members of their group. For a moment he seemed to accept it, not realizing what his eyes were telling him. Then, with a start, he understood.

"Kyo… where's Yuki?" Kyo could hear the strain in his younger cousins' voice. Looking up into Haru's searching grey eyes, he swallowed, his heart feeling leaden in his chest at the look on his cousin's face.

"Oh…" He heard Tohru's voice from the corner,

"I didn't see him when you came in. Wh-…Where is he?" Tohru grew suddenly timid as she ended her sentence, fading away to almost nothing on the last word.

"Tohru..." Kyo took a deep breath. She deserved to know, much as he might want to shield her from the truth.

"Yuki... he's-" He was cut off by Uo, who, grabbing Tohru around the arm loudly spoke over his explanation;

"We can talk about all of that later. Right now, we need to get Tohru out of here." She glared in Kyo's direction, daring him to finish his sentence.

Kyo nodded his head silently, accepting defeat with an inward sigh of relief. Getting to his feet, he glanced around at the room. In the corner where Tohru had been chained there were several suspicious dark stains on the floor and walls, along with a rather large spot to one side, dark footprints of what looked like two people leading away from it, back to the door. Shaking his head, he got to his feet, nodding to Uo and Hanajima that they should head to the door.

Closing his eyes silently, he headed after the girls, trying to think up the perfect way to tell Tohru about Yuki-

- Just as his legs connected painfully with the "stupid metal desk", and he flipped completely over it, smashing his face on the ground as his body bent entirely over his head.

It hurt.

Uncontrolled laughter exploded from the almost forgotten form of his cousin, and with a hiss of dissatisfaction Kyo pushed himself to his feet, trying not to nurse a swollen and throbbing nose...

Shooting an angry glance at the hysterical Haru, Kyo gingerly picked himself up from the floor, trying to ignore the pain in his... everywhere. As he regained his feet, he sucked in a breath, preparing to rip Haru's head off and eat it, via words.

"Haru! You son o..." Kyo trailed off as his exhaustion hit him in a sudden and overwhelming wave, and he sank back to his knees, holding his pounding head in his hands.

"H...hey! Kyo?! You alright?" A startled Haru jumped to his feet, starting concernedly toward his older cousin until he hit the end of his chain.

Kyo groaned in response, rising yet again to his slightly uncertain feet.

"I'm fine... just a little tired..."

Kyo took a deep breath and started toward Haru, trying to force his sluggish limbs to move. A dark, creeping feeling was slithering over him, filling his slow moving thoughts with dread.

"Come on Haru" Kyo said, trying to keep his anxiety out of his voice as he crossed the cool cement to reach his dark eyed cousin. With almost carefree ease, he reached out, grabbing the chain around Haru's neck and twisting. With a few loud cracks, and finally a held out groaning snap, the chain broke, leaving a few links, attached to the sturdy end, trailing from Haru's slender throat.

Their exit through the building took much less time than it had to enter it. They found their way through twisting corridors and darkened rooms, finding no obstacles, living or inanimate blocking their way. Before they knew it the small group of teens was making their way out into the sunlight of a new day, blinking away the darkness, and the painful memories it held locked within.

Kyo, casually as he should, glanced over to Tohru as his eyes adjusted to the nearly forgotten light of day. She was looking up at the sun as it shone down on her smiling face, oblivious to the secret that her companions were obviously hiding from her.

_She deserves to know_. The thought pushed its way into his head past all others, and before he could stop himself it was forcing itself out of his mouth.

"Tohru… Yuki's dead."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Blegh... definitely not proud of this chapter, but I wanted to get it done since I promised it to you ages ago. Sorry about the long wait!! I've been working alot and I haven't had my brother around to bounce ideas off of. He's been gone for ages... and though it is challenging to admit... I miss him. :( But hey, even if it isn't a good update, its here. We are going to have three endings, which are coming up next. We will post them all at the same time... sooooooo...

**READ THIS!!**

If you want a kind of sad, but still satisfying ending, read ending number 1

If you want a happy ending, read ending number 2

If you want a crushing ending that will (hopefully, if written well) send you in to a spiraling depression for at least a few hours, read ending number 3 (which will be written by Tony for he has much more skill in that area)

Kk thanks guys! Love you all!

Btw, just finished the greatest book ever "The Name of The Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss- read it its amazing.


	15. Deliberation

**AT LONG LAST! Ok, so we lied, it is not in fact an ending, we decided instead to give you a little something to hold you over, now that we have left you stranded for…4 months? SORRY! Here is a chappie specially for you, and we will try hard as we can to get the endings up soon.**

**~Nat**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

In the flickering light of a broken overhead lamp, a tall man stood, surveying the gory scene before him with a look of disgust on his shadowed face. Standing at about 6'1, with thick muscles visible even through the thick light colored coat draped loosely about his broad frame, the man made an intimidating figure. Reaching a hefty hand up, he brushed back his hood, revealing a stern face, pale in the flickering light. Kind blue eyes sat high on the face, accentuated by pronounced cheekbones, and a light layer of stubble. His crooked nose was crinkled in distaste as his eyes swept the scene in front of him, thin lips slightly parted as he strove to avoid breathing in the sharp metallic odor filling the room.

Releasing an exasperated sigh, the big man stepped forward, covering the distance between him and the three prone forms in front of him in two steps. Leaning down with a slight groan, a contemptuous smirk lifting the corners of his chapped lips, he studied the man lying in a heap in front of him.

The lanky young man was sprawled in an awkward position, one of his legs bent beneath his collapsed form. Both arms were flung out, as though he was cheering. Near one outstretched arm, just a few inches away from the partially opened hand, was a bloodied hammer. The man's face was covered in blood, most of which seemed to stem from the gaping hole that used to contain an eye. The cheekbone beneath the tattered remains was shattered, bits of bone poked from the skin, where they had forced their way out. Spattered on the front of his baggy navy blue shirt was more dark blood, along with flakes of bone and dirt. The spreading pool of blood seeping from the first man led to another, younger man, laying spread eagled on the cool cement a short distance away.

White hair, stained pink by the seeping red, was predominant in the filtering light, accentuated by black roots and pale skin. Moving over to this unconscious form, the big man examined the body lying at his feet. Baggy pants hung from slim hips, dripping silver chains, glinting dully in the pale light. At the end of long legs were dirty bare feet, one of which trailed a long scar from big toe to mid-arch. The upper body was bare, and sweat stood out on thin toned muscle, fading the flecks of blood staining the skin from a vibrant red to a faded magenta. His face was frozen in a mask of some twisted pained fury, young features stuck at a point between confusion, anger, and pain. His bright eyes were still partially opened, as was his mouth, as though even through his lack of consciousness he was trying to relay a message.

Just past the unconscious young man was the girl. She was still conscious, though she seemed entirely unaware of her surroundings. She was slumped over, forehead pressed against the cold ground, a mangled hand reaching toward the unconscious white haired one. She had the same color of hair as his little sister. Their eyes were similar too… only… Cary's eyes were fading. Even if he didn't want to admit it, the cancer eating away at her insides was winning, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Without this money, she wouldn't get treatment. Without treatment…..

The girl. Her other hand was clutching something. It was dirty, and tangled. A long piece of cloth, impossible to tell what color it had been before it had been destroyed. Her thumb, seemingly involuntarily, was rubbing slow circles on the ribbon, rubbing the dirt away in a slow constant motion. Her hair, no longer in any kind of order, tumbled down in waves, draped across her bare shoulders. In some places it knotted and stuck to patches of blood on her skin.

Instinctively, he had known what Sega had done. He had sat for several long minutes, glaring at the man at his feet, not able to bring himself to even see if Sega was still breathing. He didn't care. This man, this job, this whole arrangement was the biggest pile of shit he had ever come across. And he refused to be a part of it. But…

He wanted to release the girl and boy, but he had made a promise, and if he wasn't going to help, at the very least he couldn't hinder it. But none-the-less he felt uncomfortable about leaving them here... chained, with Sega; who, he realized as he deliberated, was beginning to wake. The man stirred slightly, twisting his uncomfortably bent leg out from under him with a quiet groan that sounded more like a sigh than anything. Shifting his arms inch by inch, he slowly brought one down to his side, and the other to his head. Exploring the cuts, bruises and bumps littering his scalp, Sega slowly sat up, his hips and back cracking as he reached a vertical position. The curious hand on his head slithered down, sliding through the blood and dirt until it came to rest, gently, upon the shattered remains of his eye socket. With a devastated cry, he plunged his fingers into the hole, feeling desperately for any sign of his missing eye. He seemed convinced that if he looked urgently enough, the organ would re-grow, good as new. As his frantic fingers scrambled through the wound, more blood began to bubble from the raw broken flesh. Fragments of shattered bone dribbled down his face, sliding upon rivulets of his blood. As his groping fingers fumbled too deep, a thick white mucus spilled from the wound. Slithering slowly down his face, it gathered dirt and blood as its decent continued, finally gathering into a heap at the bottom of his chin before separating itself and spattering to the ground. Sega sobbed as his fingers felt nothing but a texture similar to that a skinned grape. His broken cry echoed through the open room, creating a cacophony of sound as it reverberated off of the walls.

The man took a step away from his distraught partner, melting into the shadows as he considered his options. In the open space before him, Sega crawled on his hands and knees, groping despairingly through the sea of blood coating the ground. He seemed to be alright. He would be blind in one eye….. or… he would lack one. But he would live. He would finish the job, he would get his precious money, and he could go home, get a beer, buy a whore, and have his "wholesome" fun. Shii would return home penniless, but with his humanity intact.

He looked back at the girl. She really did remind him of Cary: Her bright bubbly personality, even in the worst of circumstances. She was always smiling. Her eyes always betrayed her emotions, and the only person that she didn't think to help was herself. Shii sighed. He was going to give everything up for this girl. But he just couldn't do it, not even for Cary. She wouldn't want it, and he couldn't bear it.

Shii tilted his head back, glazed eyes staring through the ceiling to something beyond. He took a deep breath and headed to the door. As he opened it, rusty hinges screamed in protest, threatening to release their load. As he exited, he shot one last look at the girl. In reality, she and Cary had more in common than either of them knew.

By the end of the month, they would both be dead.

The door closed behind him, releasing a loud screech before slamming shut with a clear sense of finality.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


End file.
